Deathstroke the Terminator
by TheForceIsStrongWithThisOne
Summary: The Titans wind up in a reality that more closely resembles that of the comic book Titans and they learn that Slade can actually be worse than he is back home. Chapter 21 is published.
1. Chapter 1

The sun was beginning to peek over the horizon, its early morning amber colored light reflected off of the glass skyscrapers which cast long shadows into the bay, their tendrils reaching out like dark fingers over the tranquil waters. The streets were empty, except for an unusual white and blue car that sped down the street. The car was recognizable to the locals; at least it was to the few who were actually awake that early on a Summer Sunday morning in downtown Jump City, which is to say, was next to no one. Cyborg drove his baby, speeding towards the bank that was being robbed downtown. Robin was in the passenger seat, studying a diagram of the bank on a tablet computer, murmuring to himself as he made mental notes on the mission's strategy. Starfire was seated behind him, snoring loudly after falling back into her deep Tamaranian slumber, still running a sleep deficit from the night before, after they completed another mission at midnight. Raven was sitting behind Cyborg and stifled a tiny yawn of her own.

"Are we there yet?" She moaned.

Beast Boy was sitting in the middle of the back seat and he yawned less politely than the gray sorceress.

"Dude! It's 5:30 AM! And on a Sunday! Who robs a bank so early on a Sunday?"

Raven elbowed the changeling, who glared at her.

"C'mon Raven, I saw you yawn. Don't tell me you didn't want to sleep in after last night's mission?"

Raven glared back at the changeling while Robin replied.

"Crime doesn't take a day off Beast Boy, and neither do the Teen Titans." The Boy Wonder replied in an authoritative voice while his green teammate sulked in the back seat.

The T-Car peeled around a corner and Cyborg slammed on the brakes, bringing the vehicle to a stop in from of the Jump City Commerce Bank, which now sported a gaping hole where its front entrance used to be, still smoldering from the explosion that created it. The sound of the alarm bell rang calamitously while police sirens echoed in the distance. The 5 super heroes emerged from the T-Car and glared angrily at the offending hole.

"Whoever they are, they aren't getting away. Titans Go!" Their leader shouted. Starfire and Raven became airborne and flew into the chasm in the wall, followed by Beast Boy who morphed into a triceratops. Cyborg and Robin followed on foot close behind.

The lobby of the bank was filled with smoke, which made seeing and breathing difficult. Raven conjured a giant fan with her dark energy. Its blades began to spin and in moments the smoke was cleared.

"That's a nice new trick, Raven!" Robin congratulated her.

"Don't mention it." She replied in a smug voice.

"Uh, guys, look over there!" Beast Boy shouted as he pointed towards the still shut vault.

The Hive Five was standing in a group. Jinx was in the middle, with Mammoth, See-more, Billy Numerous and Kyd Wykkyd at her side while Gizmo levitated overhead.

"Well, well, it's the pit sniffing Teen Titans." The bald genius chortled.

"Sorry to make you get up so early." Jinx smirked. "We just couldn't wait until tomorrow to make a withdrawal!"

"Give it up, Jinx. We all know how this is going to end!" Robin shouted.

"I don't think so." She snickered as Mammoth made the taunting hand gesture made famous by Morpheus in The Matrix, daring the Titans to attack. "It'll take more than a giant fan to beat the Hive Five. Is that really the best you can do, Raven?"

"She's mine." Raven growled.

Robin pulled out one of his bo staffs, clicking it and extending it to its full size.

"Titans Go"

The 5 heroes charged at their opponents, who stood and laughed as their arch enemies approached.

"Yo Robin, something isn't right." Cyborg shouted. "They aren't even flinching."

Starfire threw several star bolts, which went right through the Hive 5 as they continued to laugh.

"They are holograms!" The princess shouted as they reached and passed through the snickering villains.

The hologram began to flicker and it suddenly vanished, leaving the Titans standing alone in front of the vault.

"Show yourselves, you cowards!" Robin's voice echoed in the now empty bank lobby.

"Oh oh" Raven gasped as she pointed towards a strange looking box that began to glow a fluorescent orange.

A small dark vortex appeared on top of the box and quickly grew. Within a split second it engulfed the five heroes and they began to swirl around in the dark whirlpool, which began to spin faster and faster as it drew them into its center.

"Starfire, Raven, get out of here, fly away!" Robin shouted at the flight gifted girls.

"I cannot, the vortex is too strong!" The princess wailed.

"Same here!" Raven shouted.

Robin fired one of his grappling hooks, which wrapped itself around one of the marble columns in the bank's lobby. One by one the each of the Titans grabbed onto the line. The vortex's pull was strong and they couldn't pull themselves out. The pull became stronger and stronger and the five groaned as they struggled to hold on. Raven was the first to lose her grip. Beast Boy was behind her, in his human form, and tried to catch her. He was at the end of the line and she slammed into him, breaking his grip. Screaming they were sucked into the eye of the vortex and vanished. The other three held on, until a few seconds later the line snapped and they were all sucked into the whirlpool.

"Sayonara, sludgeheads!" Was the last thing Robin heard before everything went black.

_**-( scene break )-**_

Robin hit a carpeted floor with a heavy thud. His head was still swimming from the vortex and he slowly sat up, cradling his head in his hands. Without opening his eyes he spoke up.

"Is everyone OK?"

"What was that?" Cyborg moaned.

"I am the dizzy and still cannot see straight." Starfire replied in a weak voice.

"I think I landed on something soft." Beast Boy groaned.

"You landed on me, genius!" Raven snarled back at him. "And your hand is on my …"

"My bad." Beast Boy shrieked as he quick got off of the grumpy, but soft to the touch, sorceress.

Raven looked up at the changeling with a befuddled look, while he looked down at her, returning the favor. Robin had turned in their direction; slack jawed at what he saw. Beast Boy was now much taller, with a muscular build and wore a white and green uniform which highlighted his ripped figured, which Raven was now admiring, unaware that she was slack jawed. Robin gasped when he looked at Raven, who Beast Boy was helping to her feet. Her hair was shoulder length and black, and her complexion was Caucasian. Her costume had also changed. Her cape had two clasps and instead of a leotard she wore a long dress with huge slits on the sides, which still revealed her now more shapely legs.

Robin shook his head, hoping that what he saw was a side effect of the vortex, a nausea induced hallucination. When he refocused he saw that they still had their new look. Beast Boy pointed at Starfire, wide eyed and with a huge smile on his face.

"Oh baby! Is that really you Star?" The changeling shouted.

Robin turned towards where Beast Boy was pointing and a shriek escaped his lips. Starfire looked almost as tall as Cyborg. She was rippling with muscles and was wearing a costume which was so revealing that Robin blushed. Her backside was covered by a mere thong, exposing the most magnificent pair of cheeks Robin had ever seen or imagined. Her hair was wild and was waist length, while her eyes were an iris less solid green.

"Star?" The Boy Wonder croaked. "What happened to you?"

"I do not know. But we have all changed." She replied.

Cyborg was examining himself. His blue and white prosthetics were now stainless steel. He was examining a panel in his arm.

"All of us?" Robin asked.

"Yeah dude, you're a lot bigger now and have a new costume."

"You are now wearing the Nightwing costume I saw in the future, or at least one that bears some resemblance to it. As for myself, I feel as you humans would say … exposed."

Raven approached the statuesque Tamaranian and after removing her cape she draped it around the princess, concealing her magnificent derrière. Raven's dress hugged her now much more mature figure. Beast Boy whistled a polite cat call.

"Not bad Raven, you got a smoking hot body now."

Raven frowned at him before looking at her reflection in a nearby window. She gently touched her face and hair, unable to believe what she was seeing. She then replied her in signature monotone.

"I think we all do."

"So where are we?" Nightwing asked.

Cyborg tapped on some buttons on a panel that popped out of his arm.

"According to my GPS we're in New York City."

"No way! Did gizmo teleport us here with that tornado thingy?" Beast Boy asked.

Raven looked around the room they were in and saw a console. She walked up to it and hit the enter key. A login appeared on the screen and Raven typed in her username and password, which the console accepted.

"_Welcome to Titans headquarters, Miss Raven. You last login was 4 months and seven days ago."_ The console greeted her in a synthetic, robotic voice. Raven sighed.

"I think Gizmo sent us to another dimension." She announced.

"Can you take us back?" Nightwing asked.

"I don't see why not. I'll open a portal now before anything even weirder happens to us …"

"Will we change back into our old forms?" Starfire interrupted.

After a pregnant pause Raven responded.

"I don't know, but I say we leave right away … ready?"

They all nodded their assent.

"Here goes … Azarath, Metrion, ZINTHOS!"

Nothing happened.

"My powers!?"

"Raven, are you OK?" Beast Boy asked in a worried tone.

"I don't understand! I can still feel your emotions …"

Raven levitated off the floor.

"Thank Azar! I can still fly!"

"Can you still teleport?" Nightwing asked.

Raven raised her arms and was engulfed in cloud of black smoke. Another cloud appeared at the other end of the room, from which Raven emerged. Beast Boy began to sniff the air. He then morphed into a bloodhound and began to sniff around the room. He stopped at a small couch and went over it carefully. Without morphing back into his human form he spoke to his friends.

"Guys, we aren't alone, someone else is here. I smelled two different people on that couch. They sat on it 30 minutes ago, tops … wait a minute … I'm still a dog … and I can talk to you?"

"I think things already are weird." Cyborg commented.

Nightwing crossed his arms and frowned.

"So we've been sent to another dimension, where we and our powers have changed. We're in some kind of Titans facility in New York where Raven was able to log into the computer and we have no known way of getting home." The masked superhero remarked in a morose voice.

"Can things get any stranger?"

It was then that the sliding door to the room opened, revealing The Flash and a dark haired woman who wore a navy blue leotard with tiny stars on it. She pointed incredulously at the five Titans.

"Wally, please tell me I'm not seeing things!" Her voice trembled.

"I see them too, Donna."

"But it's impossible … not after what Deathstroke did …"

The Flash zoomed into the room and examined each Titan up and close, before running back to Wonder Girl.

"They're real. Not holograms, not robots." He announced.

Nightwing stepped forward and approached The Flash.

"Uh … hi?" Dick Grayson stammered.

"Who the hell are you?" Wonder Girl shouted. "I know you're impostors!"

Raven stepped forward; her hands were raised in a calming gesture. She could feel Donna's confusion and anger and suddenly found herself absorbing Wonder Girl's tumultuous emotions. Donna's face appeared to relax and once she was calm Raven addressed her.

"We are the Teen Titans, but from another dimension."

Wally gave her a skeptical look.

"That's a pretty tall tale … "Raven", if that is who you really are."

Raven gestured to the console.

"I was able to login. I suspect that all of my teammates' logins will work. And yes, I am Raven Roth, daughter of Trigon and Arella. And we really are the Teen Titans, though back in our dimension you are not members of the team."

Wally and Donna both shared distressed looks on their faces.

"So you came here to take our friends' place?" Wally asked.

"We know nothing about your friends. Our appearance here is by happenstance, it was an accident. We are actually quite eager to return to our own dimension and we would if we could." Raven added.

"What happened to your Titans?" Nightwing asked.

Donna and Wally became very somber before answering. Donna finally broke the silence.

"Deathstroke killed them."

"Who?" Beast Boy asked.

"You mean you've never heard of Deathstroke the Terminator, AKA Slade Wilson?" Wally interjected.

"SLADE!?" The five Titans shouted in unison.

"Slade killed them?" Beast Boy shrieked.

"So you have heard of him." Donna remarked. "After killing your counterparts, he started to take out lesser members of the Justice League."

"Why is he doing that? It does not seem to be his way of operating." Starfire blurted.

"Starfire is correct. The villain we know as Slade is more of a mastermind. He doesn't like to get his hands dirty." Raven added. "While he's also tried to eliminate us, he almost always relies on others to accomplish the task. He's been known to even send robots disguised as him to fight us."

"Our Slade is a mercenary and an assassin for hire. He has become emboldened lately. After killing you guys someone hired him to kill Ryan Choi, The Atom. He's been on a rampage lately, hunting down other heroes. Just yesterday Huntress barely escaped with her life." Wally continued.

"So this is our head quarters? What about the Tower in Jump City?" Cyborg asked.

"There is no such place here. But there is a Tower in San Francisco, that's where the current Teen Titans are."

"Current Teen Titans?" Nightwing asked.

"Yes, you see, we're just known as the Titans now. We helped the new kids: Cassie, Superboy, Impulse and Robin get set up.

"Robin?" Starfire asked. "In our dimension Richard is Robin."

"When Dick became Nightwing, Bats took on a new sidekick: Tim Drake. Deathstroke hasn't made a move against them yet, but I wouldn't put it past him." Wally concluded.

The five Titans, who still looked clearly dismayed, sat down.

"You'll have to forgive us, but so much has happened to us in so little time. Just 15 minutes ago we were fighting the Hive 5 in our dimension when they set a trap to send us here. Right now, we just want to find a way to get home. And to complicate things our looks and powers seem to have changed once we crossed into this dimension … I've never been Nightwing before … 15 minutes ago I was Robin."

Wally placed a hand on Dick's shoulder, then pulled him into a hug. He wiped away a tear as he released Nightwing.

"Sorry … I just thought I'd never see you again … you should be safe here for now. We'll figure out something, a way to send you home. I'll call Batman, I'm sure he'll be right over once he hears the news."

_**-( scene break )-**_

OK, this is an idea I just had. Let me know what you think. If I see enough interest I will continue, otherwise I'll just can it.


	2. Chapter 2

"Batman will be here in 3 hours. Maybe you guys would like to rest until he arrives? Don't take this the wrong way … but you look like hell." Wally reminded the fab five.

"You've always had a way with words, Wally, you did in our dimension and you do here as well." Raven complained in her driest deadpan.

The red speedster rubbed the back of his head and grinned sheepishly.

"Sorry, I just meant that you've been through a lot and you guys look like you could use a nap before Bats arrives. I'll show you to your rooms, I mean our guy's rooms … you know what I mean."

The New York Titans HQ was not the ubiquitous T-shaped tower they were used to living in. Wally related to them that the New York Tower was destroyed and was replaced by a bunker like structure. Nothing felt familiar to them. The Titans logo, which was displayed prominently throughout the building, bore no resemblance to the logo they used back in Jump City. The décor was warmer and decidedly less modernistic than their home in California. It was just as roomy, but most of it was underground, including the habitat section. During the elevator ride down Cyborg spoke up.

"So why are we underground? Are you afraid of being attacked again?"

"It's not that we're afraid, Cyborg. It's already happened, more than once. Batman thinks that we should move to a secret location …"

"The Titans do not hide!" Starfire thundered while she shook her fist in anger.

Wally grinned as the elevator stopped and the doors opened.

"That's exactly what our Kori said." He replied as he led them down the hall. At the end of the corridor there were 5 rooms, each one labeled with their names.

"The rooms should be clean and your … I mean their stuff should still be in there, in case you need a change of clothes or anything. I'll come get you before Batman arrives … rest well."

The Flash zoomed away while the Titans looked at their doors. Unlike back home they were ordinary swing open doors with door knobs and not sliding doors. Beast Boy opened his first and looked inside.

"He's right, my room's clean. That just seems … so wrong."

Starfire, Nightwing and Cyborg also peeked into their abodes.

"My room is unfamiliar to me." Starfire complained.

"Everything here is." Nightwing added. "Still, I think we should take Flash's advice and catch a few winks. Raven … can you still do a sleeping spell for us?"

The no longer gray sorceress nodded.

"I believe so."

Raven went into Starfire's room first, then Dick's and finally Cyborg's room. When she was done with them she found Beast Boy examining his room.

"I suppose you'll just morph into a cat or some other animal to nap?"

He nodded back at her.

"Yeah, you know me; I can sleep anywhere, anytime … this room feels weird Raven … I feel like I'm crashing in someone else's place."

"Me too. I don't even want to go into my room." She replied.

"I'll come with you. I want to see what her room was like."

"Curiosity killed the cat, Beast Boy."

"But I have 9 lives. C'mon, let's go take a look."

Raven cautiously opened the door to the room and they entered together. The room was furnished with plain and ordinary furniture. Raven's collection of the weird and macabre was conspicuous by its absence and there was a single bookcase, which was filled with mostly ordinary books. Along one wall was a dressing bureau with a large mirror attached to its top. They stopped and gazed at their reflections. Once again, Raven touched her face, running her fingers along her now full and lush lips.

"So this is what it's like to be pretty." She whispered sotto voce, still unable to accept her reflection as genuine.

She saw Beast Boy's troubled face in the mirror. There was pity with a touch of sadness in his eyes as he placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Ah c'mon, you were pretty before."

"No, I wasn't. And don't tell me that I'm too hard on myself. The only person who ever told me I was attractive was … Malchior … and we both know he was lying to manipulate me."

He draped an arm around her shoulder while he took her hand in his own.

"He wasn't lying, Raven. Just because you felt you were creepy doesn't mean you aren't pretty."

She squeezed his hand. "Thanks, Beast Boy. But, you have to admit, I'm not popular with the guys. At our All Titans parties the guys always avoided me like the plague…"

"That's because you're so smart."

"Oh, please."

"No, really, most guys are intimidated by really smart girls."

"Nice try, Beast Boy. They avoid me because I'm creepy."

He gave her a shy smile.

"Well … OK, maybe it's because you act extra creepy sometimes. But it's not because you aren't pretty."

Raven sighed as she shook her head.

"We're splitting hairs, Beast Boy. But you can't tell me that this Raven isn't prettier than the old gray me."

He scratched his chin before replying.

"Maybe she is, maybe she isn't. You need to give yourself credit, Raven. Someday you're gonna meet that guy who's gonna think you're a beauty."

"Yeah, right."

"Trust me, it's gonna happen. I guarantee it!" He replied with a grin. "Just don't sell yourself short, you were cute before, Raven."

"Cute? How can a gray skinned demoness be cute? Starfire was cute, I was creepy, you said so yourself, many times."

"How about you were 'creepy cute'?" He replied as he picked up a box and read its label. "Nag Champa? What's that?"

Happy to change the subject, Raven took the box from him and looked at it.

"It's incense … I don't like incense … it makes me sneeze." She replied absentmindedly as she picked up a picture frame.

Raven frowned as she looked at the picture. She and Beast Boy were in it, dressed in their civvies, it was only then that she noticed that his ears where no longer pointy and his signature protruding fang was missing. She also noticed that they were sharing a kiss. Beast Boy noticed the picture as well and put down the box of incense while focusing his attention on the picture frame.

"Is that us?"

"It appears to be so, or to be more accurate, they are our deceased counterparts."

"Dude, we were a couple here?"

"That would seem to be the case. Like you, I find the prospect to be unnerving."

He laughed politely as he pointed at the picture.

"What's that cross like thing you're … I mean she's wearing around her neck?"

"It's called an Ankh. It's an ancient Egyptian religious symbol. I'm not into that, you'd never see me wearing one back home."

"Do you have one?"

"I do, but I don't wear it. I guess our differences are more than skin deep"

Beast Boy opened one of the drawers and reached inside. Raven gave him a chilling glare.

"Beast Boy! What are you doing? You can't just rifle through a girl's chest of drawers." She growled at him.

"Aw c'mon, it's not her stuff anymore. Anyway, how else are we gonna learn more about who she was?"

Raven relented.

"I see your point … very well … what's in the drawer?"

Beast Boy withdrew both his hands. In one he clutched a handful of thong underwear. In the other was a small plastic case.

"Cool! Hey, are you wearing a thong right now? I know you don't wear them at home."

"And how would you know that?" She asked in a dangerous tone.

"Raven, I've seen you do your laundry. You don't have any thongs, or if you do, you wash them in secret." He smirked, before looking at the plastic case. "I wonder what this is."

Raven took the item, which was the size of a small compact and opened it, revealing a circle of numbered pills inside a sealed package.

"They're contraceptives."

"They are? How would you know that?" He asked, sounding a bit surprised.

"They're the same ones I take back at home."

A huge grin appeared on the changeling's face.

"You're on the pill? Raven, Raven, tell me, who's the lucky guy? Is it that Goth dude you met at the disco?"

Raven had lost some of her powers, but she still could do the crimson four eyed glare, which looked even scarier on her new face.

"I take them because they help me control my mood swings, which you cause more often than not!" She fumed at him. "And how dare you even suggest that …"

"Raven, whoa! I was just teasing you; I know you're not like that … say … do you smell something … odd?"

He morphed into a blood hound, jumped onto the bed and began to sniff around.

"What in Azar's name are you doing?" She yelled at him. "Get off my bed before it becomes infested with your fleas!"

"Just a sec." He replied between sniffs. "And for the record, I don't have fleas."

"Maybe you don't, but you smell like a wet dog, even when you're not a dog!" She snarled back at him.

"I know. And so does your bed … I think he slept in it, a lot." He continued sniffing before jumping off the bed and returning to his human form. She arched an eyebrow.

"There's something else, isn't there? I can feel you're hiding something from me, Beast Boy. What is it?"

He scrunched his nose, clearly disgusted by the last thing he smelled.

"They also did the nasty in that bed. More than once, too"

"You can smell that? Are you sure? They really had … sex?"

"Yup. They sure did. The nose knows!" He tapped his proboscis."

Raven looked back at the offending piece of furniture. She looked as if she was about to be sick.

"I'm not sleeping in that bed."

"We can ask Wally for some clean sheets …"

"There's no way I'm sleeping on that bed. No. Freaking. Way."

The changeling stifled a snicker.

"There's a couch in my room. I'll sleep on it and you can have the bed."

"I'll take the couch. I'm not sleeping in your bed either; Azar knows what else they did in it."

"Fine, you can have the couch, Raven." He smirked. "I don't know about you, but I'm ready for my nap."

He gestured at Raven to follow him. She rolled her eyes but complied with his request. Once they were in his room she spoke up.

"If I were you, I'd check that bed." She grumbled as she pulled a spare pillow out of the closet and got comfortable on the couch.

Once again, he morphed into a bloodhound and jumped on the bed. He sniffed around for a bit.

"Eww!" The green dog whined.

"What is it?" She called from the couch.

"He's had two different girls in this bed."

Raven sat up and glared at him.

"You did what?"

"Hey! It wasn't me! I've never been with a girl! I'm still a virgin."

"You are? … well I guess that's two of us then …"

"Unlike Star and Rob, who think we don't know …" He snickered

"Never mind that … so where are you going to sleep? … And don't tell me you're going to nap in that disgusting bed."

The bloodhound leaped off the bed and curled up on the room's hardwood floor.

"I'll be fine on the floor."

Raven sighed.

"Listen, just morph into a kitten and I'll share the couch with you … but if you try anything … you're dead … understood?"

In a single movement the bloodhound leaped into the air, morphed into a green kitten and landed next to Raven.

"I'll be a good boy, I promise." The kitten mewed at her.

Raven plopped her head on the pillow while the green kitten curled up into a ball next to her stomach and within a moment it was asleep. Raven absentmindedly caressed the green kitten, which began to purr in its slumber. Raven sighed.

"I just want to go home." She whimpered to herself.

**_-( scene break )-_**

"Starfire? Starfire? It's time to get up."

Starfire opened her solid green eyes and saw The Flash's smiling mug.

"Where is Robin?" She asked in a sleepy voice as she explored the bed with her arm, not finding her expected bed mate.

"If you mean Dick, he's in his room, still sleeping."

Starfire sat up in her bed, suddenly self aware of the unbelievably revealing outfit she was wearing.

"Did your Starfire have any regular clothes? I do not like this costume. I feel as if I am naked."

"Really? Kori said that was the reason she liked it."

"Unlike her, I am not the exhibitionist."

Wally chuckled.

"You talk … cute."

"Do not remind me, I am aware that my command of the English language is at times defective. The lip transfer I performed to learn English malfunctioned. I have been struggling for the longest period of time units to overcome this problem and without hitting the paid for soil."

"Paid for soil? … Oh, pay dirt … I see what you mean … so … what is this lip transfer thing?"

She gave Wally an annoyed look.

"Did your Starfire not accomplish knowledge transfer through lip contact?"

He shook his head.

"She never mentioned anything about it. So you're saying that if I kiss you we can share knowledge?"

"I could in my dimension. We have already discovered that Raven lost some of her powers when we came to this dimension. Since your Starfire did not have this ability, it is likely that now I do not as well."

A sly grin appeared on Wally's mouth.

"Well, if you really want to find out, we could try a little experiment?"

Starfire frowned at the speedster.

"Do not be the absurd. I will attempt the experiment later with Ro- I mean with Nightwing."

Wally pretended to pull a dagger out of his side.

"You'll kiss Dick, but not me? I'm hurt, wounded I tell you. I don't handle rejection well, Starfire, I just don't."

"Richard is my boyfriend and we are betrothed. Were he to find out that you are attempting to seduce me …"

"Whoa, whoa … timeout … you guys are engaged?"

"Of course we are. You are telling me that they were not?"

"They were at one time, but they broke it off."

Starfire let a small 'eep' escape her lips.

"So, they were the boyfriend and girlfriend still, am I correct?"

Wally shook his head again.

"More like 'friends with benefits' and towards the end not so much of that even."

Starfire dropped her head.

"That is most disturbing to hear."

Wally smiled sheepishly.

"I'm sorry; I didn't mean to be a downer. I have to go wake the others. We're meeting Batman in conference room C in 25 minutes."

Wally disappeared in his usual blur, shutting the door behind him.

Starfire rose from the bed and began to rummage through the chest of drawers. To her immediate dismay she found that her counterpart did not own or wear any underwear. She found a pink T-Shirt and some socks, which she tossed onto the bed. She then searched the closet and emerged with a pair of jeans and some sneakers. She removed the skimpy costume and got dressed, making a mental note to go to the nearest store later and purchase some underwear.

Once she was done she began to explore the room. She stopped in front of a mirror and examined herself. Her solid green eyes disturbed her to no end. She chose to ignore them, knowing there was nothing she could do about their appearance. She picked up a brush and attempted to bring order to her unruly red mane, but no amount of brushing had any effect on it and she gave up after 5 minutes, sighing her displeasure as she put the brush down. She saw a Tamaranian diary on the chest, just like the one she kept at home. The book would only open to its owner's touch and when she picked it up it opened, falsely recognizing her as the now dead Kori. The text of course was in the Tamaranian alphabet, which her alien brain could process at vertiginous speeds. She sat down on a chair and began to read the diary.

Five minutes later she had finished reading all 1400 pages in the book. As she put the book down a tear dripped down her face.

"Richard … how could you do that to her … she loved you … she adored you … like I do." She whispered as if trying to keep the horrible truth a secret.

In the first 1000 pages her counterpart document all the wonderful feelings she had for Dick Grayson and how he made her soul soar. She then recounted, in great detail, their first night of sexual intimacy, which was identical to the night when Starfire first shared herself with Robin back in the Tower. Then came the engagement and finally … the wedding day … which was sabotaged by … Raven?

Starfire's mind went into turmoil upon reading the sad revelation. Raven had reverted to a demonic form and stopped their wedding out of spite. After she died and was reincarnated … by Brother Blood? … Raven apologized profusely, explaining that she wasn't herself at the time. It didn't matter, as the damage was done. Richard began to see Barbara Gordon and that was the beginning of the end of her relationship with Richard.

She read Kori's words, the indignation of a Princess of Tamaran losing her betrothed to not only a commoner, but to a cripple. In the end Dick broke up with Babs, but it was now too late to repair their relationship. Nightwing rejoined the Titans and she would occasionally have casual sex with him, in the vain hope that it would jump start what they once had. But it was not meant to be and she eventually came to accept the bitter truth.

In her final diary entry Kori wrote how no one would ever be able to take Dick's place in her heart and how empty she felt as he would never reciprocate those feelings. In the final paragraph she wrote prophetic words, saying that if the Warrior's Death were to claim her, that she would welcome it, as she had nothing left to live for. The final entry was dated 4 months and 7 days earlier, two days before they were ambushed and killed by Deathstroke and his Terror Titans, which Wally promised Batman would tell them about in more detail.

She was now bawling and did not hear the knock on the door, which grew louder with each repetition. The door opened and Nightwing entered the room.

"Star! Are you OK?"

The princess wrapped her arms around her beloved and drew him into a bone crushing hug.

"Richard, oh Richard … promise me you'll never forsake me!"

Dick's eyes grew a big as saucers.

"Forsake you? Why would I ever do that?" He exclaimed.

"You will not abandon me for Barbara Gordon?"

He laughed before he replied.

"For Babs? You gotta be kidding? She's the biggest pain in the butt in the world. Sure, she's a good friend, but I wouldn't wish her on anyone, and especially not for me."

"Even if she were to become a cripple?"

"What? A cripple? What are you talking about, Star?"

Starfire recounted to Robin everything she just read in Kori's diary. After she was done Dick had a stunned look on his face.

"Wow,I can see why you're upset … that was awful … I didn't do that and yet I almost feel responsible … Star … you know I'll never leave you … you're my everything, you're my goddess."

Starfire turned away from him.

"I am not a goddess! Look at me, Richard! I have been transformed into a monster! My hair is huge and horrible. And look at my eyes! They belong on a creature from the movie Wicked Scary! And my body! My muscles make me look like a man! It is not fair! Raven became more beautiful, but I did not. Why does X'Hal curse me so!?"

He ran his fingers through her wild, indomitable hair, cooing her as he attempted to soothe her.

"That's not true Star, you're as beautiful as ever."

She looked at him incredulously.

"You are serious?"

"Very serious."

"How serious?"

He drew her into a deep kiss, which she reciprocated, after which they hugged.

"We have fifteen minutes before Batman arrives."

"Yes?" She replied.

"Is there anything you'd like to do before he's here?"

She smiled before answering.

"I believe that is sufficient time for a 'gaghnool', or as you would call it … 'a quickie'"

**_-( scene break )-_**

Well, that was a naughty end to the chapter.

While the hit counter for this story is really low (Did I scare everyone away with the title?) the reviews have been enthusiastic.

In case anyone is wondering, I am not adhering strictly to comic book canon to define the AU in this story. For instance, Terra dies in the Judas Contract series but she will be alive here (and there was never a Judas Contract). I am borrowing liberally from the comics to define the alternate universe they are in, but reserve the right to pull anything I want out of my butt!


	3. Chapter 3

"Beast Boy! Wake up! It's time!"

The green kitten yawned as it stretched, turning to look at his teammate who had already risen from the couch and was brushing her long black hair. He leaped off of the couch, transforming back into his human form as he landed on the ground.

"I'm ready." He yawned. "Let's go."

They quickly left Beast Boy's room and headed silently into the elevator. One of the buttons was labeled "Conf. Rooms" and Raven pressed it. The elevator hummed as it rose from the bowels of the mostly underground headquarters. After a brief ride it chimed, announcing they had arrived at their destination. As the doors opened they were greeted by a surprise: the hallway was packed with super heroes and most where unrecognizable to them.

The assembled heroes where murmuring and talking to each other when the elevator doors opened. The immediately fell silent when they saw who was in the elevator.

"Beast Boy, Raven! You really are alive!"

"Bumblebee?" Beast Boy asked. She looked very similar to their winged friend back at home, except for the goggles she wore on her head.

"Darn right it's me!" She grinned at them. "I just can't believe it …"

Karen Beecher broke down and began to cry.

"I don't know how you guys did it, but I'm so glad you're back." She continued to sob.

Raven reached over and placed a hand on her shoulder. Karen responded by hugging Raven, while Beast Boy watched and grinned happily. He then felt another pair of arms wrap around him and pull him into another hug. It was a short, homely looking girl who wore a brown leotard. Her hair was blond and she wore it in a very unbecoming style which made it look puffy, with the bottom of her locks curled inward. She wore a mask over her face and he saw tears drip out through the mask's eye holes.

"When I heard you were back from the dead, I couldn't believe it. I came as fast as I could." She wailed as she tightened her grip around him, squeezing him with an intensity he associated with Starfire.

Their eyes met and he grinned nervously at her.

"Hi." He squeaked at her.

Her only response was to wipe away her tears and smile.

"Uh, excuse me, Miss. Do I know you?"

Her smile evaporated as she released him and a fearful expression appeared on her face as she slowly backed away from him.

"You … you don't remember me?" She stammered in a warbling voice.

"I'm sorry." He shook his head. "I really don't."

The petite blond became furious and shouted back at him.

"It's me, Beast Boy … Terra!"

"You're Terra?" Raven interjected in a stunned voice.

"Shut up, witch. I don't know what kind of spell you cast on Gar to get him to forget me, but he will remember me!"

"T-T-Terra?" The changeling stammered. "Is that really you?"

The geomorph wrapped her arms around him and held him tight.

"You do remember me!" She gushed.

By this point they were surrounded by other young superheroes, who began to pelt them with questions, most of them inquiring how they came back from the dead. The Flash zoomed into the middle of the crowd and began to lead the two Titans away.

"Sorry guys, but Batman needs to talk with them first." The speedster announced as he led them into the conference room, which was empty. Wally closed the door behind them.

"Bats says that we need to keep your identity a secret for now, so don't tell anyone that you're from another dimension."

"And how long can we keep up that charade?" Raven asked. "We didn't even recognize Terra."

"No kidding!" Beast Boy added. "I guess my theory that all chicks are hotter in this universe just went out the window. Your Terra's a dog!"

"What is she doing here?" Raven hissed at Wally.

"What do you mean?"

"She's a liar and a traitor. She has no business being here."

"What are you talking about? Terra's a hero! She saved all of you guys from Slade last year!"

Raven stared dumbfounded at the speedster.

"Never mind. I forget things are different here." She muttered.

"So why does the Bat want to keep everything under a lid?" Beast Boy asked.

Wally sighed as he leaned against the table's edge.

"He'll tell you himself when he gets here."

The door to the conference room opened, revealing a jubilant Starfire who was wearing skin tight jeans and a T shirt that was so undersized that her breasts were threatening to escape from their textile captivity by bursting out of the garment. Beast Boy immediately noticed her.

"Wowzie!"

His exuberant remark earned him an elbow in his side from Raven, to which he replied with a sheepish grin as Nightwing entered.

"I swear you guys bicker like an old married couple."

"Don't even joke about that." She hissed back at Dick.

Raven noticed that Beast Boy had an ear to ear grin plastered on his face.

"What are you smiling about? And for the record, we are not an old married couple, or any kind of couple for that matter."

The changeling ignored the put down, and instead nodded towards Nightwing and Starfire, who were now seated at the other end of the table and chatting with The Flash.

"They just did it." He snickered.

"Did what?" She replied, now in a calmer voice, almost back to her monotone.

"It." He whispered to her.

Raven glared at the changeling.

"You're so full of yourself, how could you possibly know …"

Raven's indigo eyes became wide as saucers.

"Azar! You're right! I can feel the lust they shared." She replied with a hint of disgust in her voice. "We've only been in this crazy universe for three hours, still getting used to these new bodies…"

"Hey, you can't blame Robin. Star was cute back home, but here she's a tsunami of hotness …"

"And horniness." Raven interrupted. "She had a healthy dose of lust for Robin back home, but this is off the chart! I feel like I'm gonna be sick. And try to curb your own lust, Beast Boy, it isn't helping."

He grinned at her again.

"Don't be jealous Raven, I mean; you're pretty hot now too."

"But not like her, I mean just look at her breasts."

"I know, I can't take my eyes off of them. They're awesome … owww!"

The changeling nursed his foot, which Raven had just stomped on with her heel.

"How come you never say anything like that about me?"

"Uh, cuz I don't wanna die?"

Raven gave him one of her trademark 4 eyed glares just as Cyborg entered the room with Batman. As they entered several of the youngsters outside craned their necks to get a peek inside, just as Wonder Girl showed up to shoo them away. Unbeknown to the occupants of the room, a concealed miniature digital camera began to snap photos of the 5 Titans. Terra and Bumblebee were the last ones to get a look at the Fab Five before Donna closed the door.

All eyes turned to the Dark Knight, who was still conferring with Cyborg. Batman nodded at the tin man and turned his attention to the other four Titans.

"Dick, it's good to see you again, even if you are from another dimension."

"So you believe us?"

"I verified it. Before the meeting I tested Cyborg. He has a different quantum signature. You are definitely from another dimension."

"So, what do we do next? Can you help us get home?"

"Not yet, but we're working on it. As for what's happening next, we're moving you to the San Francisco tower; you should be safe there for now."

"Safe from what?" Starfire asked.

Batman picked up a remote control.

"I want you to see something. I'll warn you ahead of time, it will be very unsettling."

A giant screen at the end of the room came to life.

"Brace, yourselves, this won't be easy to watch."

The screen showed the very same hallway outside their rooms, which was darkened as it was night time. Five individuals suddenly appeared on the screen.

"Is that Slade?" Cyborg asked.

"It is." Batman answered.

Slade produced a small controller from his utility belt and pressed a red button on it. The security alarms began to blare and red lights flashed in the hallway.

Nightwing was the first to emerge from his room, still in a sleep induce daze. Cheshire, or Jade as she was also known, thrust a sword into his chest; its pointed edge emerged from his back. She quickly withdrew it and his lifeless body crumpled onto the floor. Starfire emerged next from her room. Osiris approached her from behind and wrapped his arms behind her. As she struggled to free herself he lifted her so that she was almost horizontal above him. He then shouted "Black Adam!" and a bolt of supernatural lighting appeared out of nowhere, striking the princess in the chest, killing her. Osiris tossed her lifeless body on top of Nightwing as Cyborg appeared. The bionic Titan was greeted by a supernatural dragon, which Tattooed Man conjured from his very own skin. Cyborg fired his sonic cannon at the beast, which didn't even flinch. It then pounced on Cyborg and began to rip him to pieces. Finally, Beast Boy and Raven emerged from their room. Beast Boy was ahead of her and was obliterated by a wall of fire that Cinder had conjured. As Raven stared in horror at her mate's dying gasps, Slade kicked her in her solar plexus. She fell to the floor, her wind knocked out and was on all fours, trying to regain control of her body when Deathstroke raised his sword and in a single swift motion he decapitated the demoness. He then bent over, picked up her head and stuffed it into leather bag. All this happened in just 15 seconds.

"We're done here. Let's go." The all too familiar voice commanded his team.

The video ended and static appeared on the screen. Beast Boy rose to his feet, almost apoplectic.

"Your Slade's a psycho! What the hell's his problem?" The green Titan shrieked.

"How did he get into this building? Isn't there a security system?" Cyborg wailed.

Batman turned off the monitor.

"There is no doubt about it, it was an inside job."

"Someone betrayed the Titans to Slade?" Nightwing asked.

"Except this time Slade had everything figured out, down to the last detail." Starfire added.

"This Slade is more dangerous than our own." Raven remarked.

"So who was the traitor?" Beast Boy asked.

"We don't know yet. But whoever it was provided Slade not only with access codes, but with full access to the security system. The system was replaced since then, but you aren't safe here as the traitor remains at large, which is why we're sending you to San Francisco." Batman announced. "We know that they remain uncompromised and you should be safe there."

"Are you sure it wasn't Terra?" Raven asked.

The Dark Knight regarded Raven with a piercing look.

"Positive. She was away with the Doom Patrol when this happened. Mento vouches for her."

Nightwing stood up, his arms crossed defiantly.

"You expect us to run and hide after what he did?"

Batman placed a hand on Nightwing's shoulder.

"Only until you're ready. I will personally prepare you and your team to face Deathstroke and his Terror Titans. You're unfamiliar with this reality. It's different from yours and you need to learn everything about Deathstroke all over again."

Bruce paused.

"In the long run we won't be able to keep them away from you. The Brotherhood of Evil paid him $100 million dollars to kill the Titans. Once word gets out that you're all alive they'll demand a refund. And Slade will lose his credibility as the world's deadliest assassin. He'll kill you again to protect his reputation. However, our first priority will be to return you from where you came from. Once you are gone Deathstroke won't be able to harm you."

"Dude! After seeing what he did to them there's no way we're bailing out of this and letting Slade get away with what he did."

"Beast Boy is correct! To flee in the face of danger is cowardly!" Starfire bellowed. "Your Titans must be avenged!"

Nightwing and his team congregated in front of Batman. Dick stuck his hand out and one by one his teammates placed their hands on top of his. Wally and Donna stepped forward and did the same.

"Titans Togther!" Nightwing shouted.

"TITANS TOGETHER!" Thundered their reply.

_**-( scene break )-**_

The sliding door opened silently, running on well oiled tracks. It fit in perfectly with the facility, which itself felt like a well oiled machine. Everything and everyone in it performed with the utmost efficiency. A young man wearing a black spandex suit with a lightning bolt on his chest entered through the door and sat down in the last empty chair around a large round table. Other young meta-humans and super athletes surrounded the table, looking annoyed at having been kept waiting but none looked as irritated as the man who sat at the head of table.

The man was extremely muscular and projected an intimidating aura. He wore a blue spandex outfit that appeared to be made of scales, with yellow gloves and boots and a bandolier draped across his chest like a sash. His face was harsh and had a few scars on it that he collected over the years, but that isn't what stood out the most about the man. His platinum colored hair matched his goatee and mustache, but it was the eye patch that drew the most attention. Secret identities were of no concern to the man who only wore his mask to intimidate his prey, as if it was even necessary to do so once they realized that Deathstroke the Terminator was after them. The whole world knew that his real name was Slade Wilson, not that it mattered in the least. If someone hired Deathstroke to eliminate you, you were as good as dead.

As the black clad youth took his seat, Slade looked up from some dossiers he was reading and frowned at the young man.

"Nice of you to join us, Osiris. I'm certain that you had more important things to do rather than be on time for the meeting."

The other hired guns around the table began to snicker: Cheshire, Cinder, Tattooed Man and … Roy Harper, who along with Osiris was once a Titan. Osiris felt the ire swell within him. How dare they mock him? He was Black Adam's sidekick, for Horus's sake! He was, indirectly through Black Adam, one of the wizard Shazam's champions. He was equal to Capt. Marvel Jr. and it should have been easy for him to take out the rest of his team. But ever since Black Adam had been trapped in stone, Amoz Tomaz, AKA Osiris, began to lose the intensity of his powers. They all knew this, otherwise they would never have dared to mock him the way they did. He was only on this team because Slade promised to help him free Black Adam and Amon's sister Isis from the curse that entrapped them. The bargain had been made a year ago, and Amon was beginning to seriously doubt that Slade would ever make good on his promise, no matter how many Justice Leaguer's or Titans he helped to kill.

The dishonor of Amon's treachery to his former Titan friends and comrades shamed him. He no longer felt worthy to be one of Shazam's champions; he felt that honor now only belonged to the Marvels and Black Adam. But he had no other choice if he was to save Isis and Black Adam.

His sin of betrayal haunted him every night in his dreams, a never ending punishment. Every night he relived the brutal murder that Starfire suffered at his hands. And there were others, many others who used to call him 'friend' who now slept in a cold grave because of his bargain with Slade. He was not given these powers by Black Adam to perform such evil and despicable acts, and now Slade was going to calmly inform them of their next mission with a dispassionate detachment one might associate with planning a shopping errand to the grocery store.

"Since we are all present, we may begin." Slade continued. "We have received our next contract. The target is Stargirl, AKA Courtney Whitmore …"

Roy leaped to his feet.

"No way, Slade, she's still a kid!"

"She's Justice League, therefore she's fair game, Mr. Harper! If you feel that you are not up to this task, you should perhaps reconsider your membership on this team."

Roy, once known as Speedy but who now was known as Arsenal, along with Cheshire across the table, gritted their teeth. Slade promised them to help them find those responsible for the death and murder of their illegitimate daughter, Lian. As was the case with Amon, almost no progress had been made with their promise.

"But for now, we have more pressing business to handle … Titan business."

Slade's five mercenaries gave him a puzzled look.

"Who's left? Donna? Wally?" Roy grumbled. "Who wants their heads on a platter, Slade?"

"Our mole in the Titans' organization has informed me of some rather unsettling as well as unbelievable news. Apparently Nightwing, Starfire, Cyborg, Raven and Beast Boy have risen from the grave and are back in the Titans' New York headquarters."

"You're full of shit, Slade! I burned Beast Boy to crisp; there was nothing left of him but ashes when I was done." Cinder bellowed as she stood up, flames dancing on her head.

"We killed them Slade, you were there. You decapitated Raven yourself! And I stabbed Nightwing in the heart. You don't come back from that, no one does!" Cheshire howled.

Slade picked up a TV remote control and a large flat screen TV came to life. A slide show began, showing stills of the suddenly reanimated Titans seated around a conference table with Batman addressing them.

"Our operative had a hard time getting these shots as she was not invited to the meeting, but the fact remains: they are not dead. When word gets out that they are still alive I will have to refund the bounty we were paid, and we have spent some of it already."

"So who is this spy, Slade?" Amon asked bitterly.

"That is on a need to know basis, and you do not need to know who it is, Osiris."

"I hate your secrets, Slade." He snorted back.

"You are beginning to understand how our business works, Amon."

Tattooed Man shook his head.

"But we delivered Raven's head as proof of the hit. She's dead, man, dead!"

"It wouldn't be the first time she came back from the dead." Slade grumbled.

"Yeah, we all know about how Brother Blood resurrected her years ago. But how did she pull it off this time? And how did she bring the others back as well?" Cinder fumed.

"We will find out, and once we do … we'll get the job done right. You're dismissed for now." He announced as he turned to Roy. "In the meantime Miss Whitmore has won a reprieve."

_**-( - )-**_

Deathstroke is definitely a bigger bad ass than Slade (even though technically he is Slade). Are you wondering who the traitor is? Well, keep wondering!


	4. Chapter 4

"Flohrbix!" Starfire muttered under her breath as she rummaged through the closet in a hopeless attempt to select clothes to pack in her lone suitcase. She did not care one bit for her counterpart's scandalous dressing style. The jeans and shorts were so tight that they were a struggle to put on, while all the tops felt as if they were two sizes too small. She looked at the clock and realized that their ride would be leaving in 25 minutes. Batman pronounced that they were not safe in New York and that they should leave immediately for the San Francisco tower.

Cursing again she selected some items, quickly folding them and placing them in the suitcase. She stomped over to the chest of drawers, knowing that she wouldn't find what she needed in them as her counterpart wore neither underpants nor bras. All she found in the drawers were socks and those incredibly revealing uniforms. Before scooping an armful of socks she looked in the bureau's mirror. Her huge bosom almost seemed to mock her as it jiggled like a bowl of jello. While Richard seemed to appreciate her new physique, her chest in particular captivated him during their "encounter" just before the meeting; she just wished it would go away and return to its normal size.

After dumping the mountain of socks in her suitcase, she frowned and headed out her door, stopping in front of the room next door. She rapped on the wooden door with her knuckles.

"Raven, may I enter?"

"It's open." The gravelly monotone replied.

For a split second, upon hearing the familiar voice, Starfire felt better. That is until she opened the door and saw her teammate.

Raven had changed into a skin tight, dark blue full body costume that highlighted her now much more voluptuous figure. Starfire noticed that she had a black raven, with its wings spread, embroidered on her new costume's chest, which also highlighted her now more ample bosom. Starfire gave her a puzzled look.

"Apparently this was her new look, it's all she had in her closet." Raven replied as she folded a pair of jeans and stowed them into her suitcase. "And since she only wears thong underwear I'm not wearing that dress anymore."

The princess sighed.

"Is that all she has? Thongs?"

"Correct. Say, you wouldn't have any clean undies I could borrow?"

"I was going to ask you the same."

Raven grunted as she shut her suitcase.

"We are so gonna have to hit the mall when we get to San Francisco. My counterpart dresses like a tramp." Raven complained as she lifted her heavy suitcase by hand.

"Damn, this thing weighs a ton! I miss my telekinesis powers."

"Allow me, my friend." Starfire said as she took the suitcase effortlessly from Raven.

"I feel so useless!" Raven complained. "All I can do is fly, teleport, feel and consume emotions."

"You can still do the magic, yes?"

"Sort of, but even that is … lame. My counterpart might have been prettier than me, but her powers were a joke."

"She was not prettier than …"

"Forget it Starfire, Beast Boy already told me the same thing." She said as she stood in front of the mirror. "But my reflection doesn't lie. She was way prettier than I ever was."

"Look at me Raven! I also do not like this version of myself."

"I think Dick does." Raven replied.

"Beast Boy is very handsome now." Starfire attempted to change the subject. "Do you like the way he looks now?"

Raven's face fell. "We learned that our counterparts were lovers. Starfire, that is so wrong on so many levels!"

"Yes, the Wonder Girl told me that. Also, in this reality, Richard and I … we were not together."

Raven stopped at the front door as she grabbed the doorknob.

"We need to find a way to get home, Starfire."

"Are you afraid of falling in love with Beast Boy?"

"That will happen when pigs fly … but no … that's not why …"

Raven paused.

"That video we saw…"

"Are you afraid of Slade?"

Raven gulped.

"If I had my full powers … no. But I feel powerless, Starfire. And Beast Boy is right … this Slade is … he scares me. He callously murdered our counterparts for money. He had no personal issue with us; he slaughtered us simply because someone paid him, and he'll do it again just to preserve his so called reputation. And you saw how efficient he was. Sure, they caught us off guard, but they killed us all in less than 15 seconds. Our Slade could never have pulled that off!"

"And the boy who killed my counterpart …" Starfire remarked. "… who was he?"

"I've never heard of Osiris in our world, but I've heard of his master, Black Adam. They're both the Wizard's champions Starfire, just like Captain Marvel."

"Wizard? Which wizard?"

"Shazam, Starfire. This means he is as strong as Superman, and he can use magic too. He is an incredibly dangerous and deadly enemy. And Slade's other henchmen were all deadly and ruthless as well. We are in way over our heads here; it's no wonder Batman is sending us to a safe house."

"What will we do, Raven?" Starfire asked in a worried tone.

Raven sighed.

"I have no idea."

_**-( scene break )-**_

The hum of the Titan Jet's engines droned relentlessly. Wally and Donna were at the controls and Cyborg sat with them in the cockpit, asking countless technical questions about the ship's Tamaranian design and technology.

Batman had requested FAA permission for a suborbital flight. When that was denied he then requested permission for supersonic flight, which was also denied due to the non emergency status of the flight, which meant that it was a long, boring 5 hour flight to the Bay Area. Batman protested but the FAA wouldn't budge.

The interior of the ship resembled a small commuter jet. There were 6 rows of 4 seats, which were occupied by the 4 Titans who were not in the cockpit. Starfire and Nightwing were seated in the front, on the right hand sight. Throughout the flight they bounced between napping, chatting and horny make out sessions, with heavy groping which Raven politely endured as she was unable to shut them out. She resigned herself to accepting that this was their way of coping with the situation at hand and decided to grin and bear it.

Raven was sitting alone in the third row, on the left hand side. She spent her time meditating, at least when Kori and Dick weren't engaged in their heavy duty petting. They were about 2 hours into the flight and when she looked out the window she saw Mississippi river below. Feeling restless, she got up from her seat. She saw Beast Boy was sitting alone in the rear of the jet, also looking out the window with a grim look on his face. Against her better judgment she made her way to the rear of the plane and sat down next to him. He turned towards her and smiled weakly.

"Hey Rave, how ya doin'?"

"I was about to ask you the same thing. I'm sensing a lot of turmoil in you."

He sighed.

"I can't get that video out of my mind. It just keeps playing over and over …"

"I understand, Beast Boy … I was also deeply disturbed by it."

"Slade … I mean … what the frak's his problem?"

"Our Slade has tried to destroy us …"

"I know, but … it was so …"

"Savage?"

"Yeah." He whimpered. "Raven, I'm ashamed to say this … but I'm scared."

Raven slipped her hand into his, interlacing her fingers with his own.

"So am I. But we will stop him, when we're ready."

"I know … the last time I felt this way was when Terra was going to kill me … I don't fear death Raven … we're all gonna die someday … it's feeling powerless that really scares me."

"I understand. For me it's even worse as I've lost some of my powers. I'm going to have to focus more on my magic. I brought some of her books with … I wish I had my books here."

"I'm sorry Raven … I'm just thinking about myself … you have it worse than I do."

"It's alright Beast Boy … would you like to take a nap … I can do a sleeping spell to help you."

He nodded. "That sounds like a good idea Raven, thanks."

Raven placed her free hand on his forehead and muttered a few words. The changeling's eyelids became heavy and within seconds his eyes closed.

"Pleasant dreams, green bean." She whispered as she leaned on his shoulder closing her own eyes. "We'll get out of this mess, Garfield."

_**-( scene break )-**_

Starfire yawned as she slowly began to wake up. Nightwing was assiduously studying some Deathstroke material Bruce had given him. The jet's engines continued to drone and she saw the Rockies slowly slipping by below, their white capped peaks reaching for them. After sighing happily she leaned over and gently locked lips with him.

"Did you sleep well?" He asked in a pleasant voice.

"Most delightfully, my beloved." She replied as she stood up to stretch. He looked up, using all his will power to focus on the lovely, yet different face she now had, and to not stare at the even more magnificent rack on her chest. She looked towards the rear of plane, upon which she smiled before pointing.

"Richard, look."

Nightwing stood up and grinned at the sight that greeted them. Beast Boy and Raven were sitting next to each other, sound asleep. Their fingers were still interlaced and Raven was leaning against his shoulder.

"Told you, Star. They're an old married couple."

The princess smiled at her betrothed.

"They are good friends, especially when they are not fighting. Do you think it will ever …"

Nightwing shrugged his shoulders.

"They're not ready, Star. Raven certainly isn't ready, and as for Beast Boy, he still isn't comfortable expressing how he feels for her."

"But … why do they fight so much if they have feelings for each other?"

Nightwing snickered.

"They're both like little kids, even Raven. They fight so much because it's a way for them to spend time together while pretending to not like each other."

The princess crossed her arms and frowned.

"Why do humans play such games with each other? Why are they not honest with their feelings?"

Dick pulled Starfire into a deep kiss. After which he looked deeply into her eyes.

"If you can find the answer to that, you will be very, very rich."

He chuckled as he turned back to look at the unexpected scene.

"We'd better leave them alone. If Raven wakes up and finds us watching, she'll freak out." Nightwing answered as he returned to his seat, beckoning her to join him.

Starfire sneaked one last peek at her friends before sitting down on Nightwing's lap.

"Richard, do you like the way I look in this universe?"

"Well, you do look different."

She frowned at him.

"That is not what I asked. Please do not be the evasive!"

He grinned sheepishly.

"Well, Beast Boy is right, you really are … how can I say this?"

"I am the hot?"

"Well ... yeah! You're really hot."

"So is Raven." She replied.

"Not even close. Beast Boy can keep her." He grinned.

"You do not find my eyes to be … strange?"

"They are different, but I like them. They look exotic. Sexy."

The princess leaned into him and kissed him repeatedly.

"How much time remains until we arrive at our destination?" She asked.

"About. 90. Minutes." He replied between kisses.

"I wish for us to join the mile high club?" She requested in a very sultry voice.

"What? … I mean … where?"

"I have been in the rest room; there is ample space in there."

He grinned his eager agreement to her.

"Mile high club? Where did you learn that term?"

She purred back at him as she ran her hands over his chest.

"In a magazine." She replied as she stood up, holding his hand as she pulled him up with her. "Come, I do not wish to wait."

"Yes, ma'am" He chucked happily as he followed her down the aisle. He glanced at Raven, and was relieved to see that she was still sound asleep.

Starfire opened the door to the lavatory. She was right, it was rather spacious.

That was when a loud explosion was heard.

_**-( scene break )-**_

Slade inhaled the pine fresh aroma around him as he sat in the driver's seat of the old military grade jeep. Its narrow stance was far better suited for the narrow dirt service roads high in Roosevelt National Forest than a more modern Hum-Vee. He scanned the sky several minutes with his binoculars, which he finally put down once he was certain that the aircraft passing by above was an ordinary airliner. He pushed the start button on the jeep's utilitarian dashboard and the four cylinder engine groaned in protest until it finally started. After shifting it into first gear he released the clutch and the drab, olive colored machine began to scramble up the riverbed back onto the abandoned service road. He patiently guided it up the mountain, diverting his eye to the sky periodically, searching for something flying by. After 10 minutes he reached the road's highest point, which offered an unobstructed view of the nighttime sky above. He shut the engine off and engaged the parking brake before hopping out of the vehicle. He saw a flashing light approach from the distance and waited for it to approach. The flashing light slipped past his location. It was too high to visually identify with certainty, but he grinned nonetheless. His patience was rewarded when a bright flash was seen in its location, after which a bright light began to fall from the stratosphere to the mountain range below. He followed it with his binoculars until it crashed. He estimated that the impact location, in a valley between a couple of 14'ers, was about 25 miles away. He returned to the jeep and from its rear he extracted a large duffel bag. He emptied its contents and in less than a minute he assembled a hang glider. He pulled a small radio from his pocket and pressed a small button on it.

"You all saw the crash. Meet me there in 10 minutes. Assume nothing and be ready for anything." He barked into the radio's mike. He then keyed up a different frequency.

"Well done, Bumblebee. Your payment will be delivered as promised."

"Always a pleasure doing business with you, Slade. By the way, I found out where they're from: another dimension. Who would have known? I thought that only happened in Sci Fi."

"I expected as much. Slade out."

The one eyed mercenary picked up the delta shaped glider and ran towards a cliff, jumping off into the dark void. Silently and with the greatest of stealth, he began to fly towards the crash site.

_**-( scene break )-**_

Raven and Beast Boy woke with a start. Alarms were blaring and the jet was beginning to tumble.

"Dude! What happened!? Beast Boy shrieked.

Nightwing and Starfire were soon at their side, hanging on to the seats as the place continued to tumble out of control. The cockpit door opened and Cyborg poked his head out.

"This baby's going down! We gotta get outta here!"

"Raven!" Nightwing shouted over the din. "Can you teleport us out of here?"

"Yes!" She shouted back. "But everyone needs to be next to me!"

Precious seconds ticked away as Donna, Wally and Cyborg made their way to their friends. Raven raised her arms and a cloud of black smoke appeared, obscuring everyone's vision. The tumbling and noise suddenly ceased and they all felt a strange sense of peace. After what felt like a long moment the smoke began to clear and the 7 Titans found that they were on a side of a tall mountain, close to the summit. Beast Boy shivered as the temperature was well below freezing.

"I'm sorry." Raven apologized. "This was the best I could do given the circumstances."

A loud explosion was heard in a valley below. A bright light shined like a beacon, the flaming wreckage announcing where it impacted. Cyborg looked at a sensor in his arm.

"It's 5.8 miles away." He announced.

Beast Boy was still overwhelmed with the near cataclysm they had endured.

"What happened?"

"We were sabotaged." Cyborg announced. "One of the engines exploded. We're lucky that the whole ship didn't disintegrate while we were still up there."

Nightwing crossed his arms. "We all know what this means."

"Slade's nearby." Beast Boy growled.

"And he probably isn't alone." The Flash added. "These woods are probably crawling with his Terror Titans. And as soon as they find our bodies missing from the crash site …"

"They'll come looking for us." Raven added.

Starfire smiled.

"They will be expecting us to be fleeing to safety. Perhaps it is our turn to give them the surprise."

Nightwing surveyed his team. One by one, each one of them nodded their agreement.

"Guys, I hate to say this, but this could get ugly." Beast Boy spoke up. "What I'm trying to say is: we might have to kill some of these guys."

The group fell silent as the truth of what the changeling said began to sink in. Finally Raven spoke up.

"Beast Boy is right. We should be ready for anything. Let's just hope it doesn't come to that."

"So, do we have a plan?" Donna asked.

"I thought you'd never ask." Nightwing replied.

_**-( scene break )-**_

Things are beginning to heat up, and not just in the battlefield!


	5. Chapter 5

"Damn, it's cold."

The solitary figure gulped down the remaining coffee in the thermos, tossing the empty canister aside as he stood at the observation point where Slade had sent him. He was in a valley, between La Plata Peak and a smaller mountain to its side. He had been at his post for almost an hour, and was beginning to feel testy over what appeared to be a pointless assignment. He couldn't complain, as the rest of the Terror Titans were spread across the Sawatch mountain range in central Colorado. The centralized location of the Labyrinth, Deathstroke's secret lair, allowed them to arrive well before the Titans' Jet, which Slade pulled a few strings to force into a subsonic airliner route.

Roy checked his watch. It was well into the window when the Titans would be flying over. His vantage point was at 9000 feet above sea level. The white capped La Plata Peak glimmered in the moonlight in the cloudless and ice cold night.

It was then that he heard the explosion and instinctively looked up into the dark dome overhead. It was hard to miss; it looked like a Roman candle, falling precipitously while rapidly cycling through colors. He saw it coming in his direction and without thinking he rose from his seated perch, never taking his eyes off of the falling metal bird. Within a moment he was able to determine that it was heading in his direction and would be crashing in his domain. He stared at the falling angel, mesmerized by its tragic beauty.

More explosions echoed through the valley as the wreckage approached and began to separate into several large pieces of debris which crashed with a fateful finality into the forest below with a few more explosions serving as a death wail for the once magnificent ship.

An eerie glow illuminated the valley as Roy Harper, who had once been known as Speedy when he was a Teen Titan, began to run down the mountain side. He heard Deathstroke's order to meet at the crash site as he literally slid down the mountain side into the inferno that waited in bowels of the ravine. Pushing brush and bramble aside with his artificial arm he approached the fiery point of impact, feeling its heat intensify as he drew near.

He emerged from the forest into a clearing. The wreckage was strewn over the opening in the forest, while some of it fell into the forest itself, igniting its evergreen pines, which were quickly being consumed as the fire spread. Roy stared mesmerized at the flaming destruction that lay before him. He shook his head and blinked. The scene before him was suddenly transformed. He was no longer in a forest. Instead, he was now in Star City, after a mysterious villain had detonated his massive bomb, a device that took countless innocent lives, one of them … his daughter Lian.

Roy staggered away from the fire, until he was at the edge of the clearing. He began to hyperventilate and dropped to his knees. Raising his head he saw that Star City was gone, and the jet wreckage had returned. Beads of sweat formed on his forehead and tears ran down his face.

"Are you high again?" A female voice grilled him.

He looked up and saw Jade's stern face.

"No." He answered abruptly.

"Then get up before Slade gets here."

"I don't care about Deathstroke anymore." He replied.

Jade kicked him, knocking him over.

"You're a loser, Roy. You were a mediocre Teen Titan and you're an even worse Terror Titan. You're worthless!"

He looked up at her with disdain in his eyes.

"You didn't think that when I knocked you up!"

She drew her sword, raising it over her head, ready to strike him.

"She's dead because of you! If she had stayed with me, she'd still be alive!" She bawled.

"So you saw it too." He gestured at the wreckage.

She dropped her sword and fell to her knees, sobbing.

"She was my baby! Why? Why did that have to happen?" She screamed into the void.

Roy slowly got up and walked to towards the searing heat of the wreckage.

"Why did they have to die? I don't know who or what they were, but they couldn't have been the Titans. What did they do to deserve this?" He asked.

"Don't you dare compare them to my Lian!" She shrieked back at him.

Roy bent over to pick up his bow, which he dropped when she kicked him.

"I'm through with Slade. Being a hired assassin won't bring her back. Wherever Lian is, she must be ashamed of us."

Jade snarled at Roy, picking up her sword as she rose to her feet.

"Don't you dare walk away now, Roy!"

"I'm leaving. Stay and claim your trophy once the fire dies out. And don't come looking for me."

Roy vanished into the darkness of the forest. Jade hesitated for a moment, debating whether or not to follow him. Her indecision was cut short when Osiris descended from night time sky, landing in the middle of the wreckage. He began to search through the debris, effortlessly turning over sections of the fuselage, looking for human remains. Slade's hang glider swooped in silently and landed. He tossed the delta wing aside and approached Jade.

"Where is Arsenal?"

"He left." She replied in a voice devoid of all emotion.

Slade did not acknowledge her remark and turned towards Osiris, who had completed his search.

"Report" Slade barked at the Wizard's champion.

"Nothing. I couldn't find any remains. They got off the jet before it crashed."

_**-( scene break )-**_

Wally stood still at his post in the forest. Not moving was not something that came instinctively to the speedster, who switched his red costume to a white camouflage mode, blending into the freshly fallen snow bank behind him. He had been at his post for over 15 minutes, spying on Slade and his team in the valley below. After what felt like an eternity Deathstroke's team dispersed into the forest, and none of them had gone off in his direction.

The fastest man alive heard his stomach growl and cursed silently at having forgotten to refill his food compartment, which was now as bare as Mother Hubbard's cupboard. He instinctively reached for his Justice League provided ear communicator, but caught himself and stopped, remembering that Nightwing wanted to maintain radio silence in case Deathstroke was eavesdropping, no doubt with help from the still anonymous traitor in their midst.

The knowledge that one of their own had betrayed them yet again burned in his gut. The sabotage was done with the greatest of stealth as the ship was under observation at all times by three different individuals. How Deathstroke managed to slip past that was a mystery, but Cyborg speculated that the bomb was probably hidden in a spare part that was recently installed as part of scheduled maintenance. Wally swore to himself that they would find the traitor, whoever it was, and make that treacherous fiend pay dearly.

Satisfied that Slade's minions were gone he rose to his feet, ready to run to Nightwing's checkpoint with his report. It was then that he felt the heat, approaching with the speed of a bullet. Fortunately for the speedster he was very good at dodging bullets. Unfortunately, this wasn't a bullet but was a giant fireball, which partially hit him.

His suit protected him from the incinerator like qualities of the blast, which still knocked the wind out of him and sent him flying, landing on the powdery snow with a light thud. He looked up and saw his assailant. It was Cinder, who raised her arms in preparation for the next blast she was about to send his way.

"Prepare to meet your maker, Flash!" She shouted in victory as she launched her attack.

_**-( scene break )-**_

Starfire flew silently over the forest canopy, her alien eyes scanning the ground below her, searching for any sign of Deathstroke's murderous brigade. This time she would not be caught off guard. Her solid green eyes glimmered with fury in the moonlight, with the righteous anger she felt towards the cowardly assassins who were accosting her and her friends.

She banked left, following the contour of the side of the La Plata Peak she was assigned to cover. She murmured a warrior's prayer to X'Hal, asking for her intercession in her noble quest to seek justice. Remembering the cowardly murder of their counterparts she felt her heart swell with indignation, but especially towards Osiris, the Wizard's renegade champion. She had met Captain Marvel once and was one of the few to ever witness Billy Batson's transformation into the Mightiest of Mortals, a superhero so strong and mighty that it was said he even eclipsed Superman's own power. The very thought that Osiris could be as strong as the "Big Red Cheese" unnerved her, but she shook the thought away.

Starfire's attention was drawn to the ground below, where her peripheral vision detected a sudden movement. Gritting her teeth, she plummeted towards the ground, where she landed with her right arm extended, ready to fire a star bolt.

"Show yourself!" She shouted. "You are cornered and cannot escape!"

The Tamaranian shrieked as a deer leaped out of the shadow and jumped over her in a single bound, quickly disappearing back into the forest. The princess sighed as she felt the tension seep out of her body. Had she been human she would have no doubt experienced an adrenaline rush. She sometimes envied her human teammates, as the amazing hormone could temporarily give them strength beyond their normal abilities, making them far more dangerous than their frail physiques would normally allow.

Satisfied that there was no one else present she prepared to return to her aerial patrol, and she would have had she not been struck from behind.

The blow, which felt like two feet slamming into her back, knocked her off her feet. She fell to the ground, reeling from the power of the impact. Her warrior instincts served her well, as she quickly rolled away from where she fell and not a moment too soon as another powerful strike hit the ground where she had been a moment before. She a quick flip and landed on her feet, facing her assailant.

"I see you are better prepared this time, Princess." A voice called from the shadows.

"Do not hide in the darkness, coward!"

"As you wish."

Starfire's heart sank when she saw Osiris emerged from the darkness. She immediately noticed that he had a Middle Eastern complexion. His face looked calm, as if he was unaware of what he was about to do.

"I am not afraid of you!" She screamed at him.

"Perhaps you should tell your face that." He smirked at her.

Starfire roared and leaped towards him. Her right fist shot out, jabbing him in the face. She followed up with a series of punches, which sent him staggering back. She had to summon all her willpower to not cry out in pain as he felt harder than steel to her mighty yet flesh and blood fists.

"Not bad, your highness, but now it's my turn." He calmly replied after regaining his balance.

Osiris zoomed towards her with a speed she normally associated with the Flash and connected a single strike to her face. The alien saw stars as she went flying through the air, crashing through a tree, demolishing it as if it was made of balsa wood. She landed on the forest floor with a dull thud. Her mind panicked, as she understood that she was momentarily defenseless. Summoning all of her will power she became airborne, only to suddenly feel a vise like grip around her ankle. With a force she had never experienced before she was slammed into the ground. Her mind was racing now. She had to get away from him and get help. Failure to do so would spell certain doom for her.

She felt him pick her up and realized that he was going to repeat the move he used to murder her counterpart in the video.

"Why are you doing this? What have I ever done to you?" She choked as she spat blood out of her mouth.

"Nothing personal, Princess. This is simply a contract."

"A contract? You are willing to murder for money?"

He was clutching her by her ripped T-shirt when he paused at her question.

"No … not for money."

"Then for what?" She gurgled. "What could compel you, one of the Wizard's champions, to misuse your precious gift in such a way?"

Osiris paused, looking distraught. His expression changed to anger.

"I owe you no explanations, alien. But now, it's time for you to die."

"I do not think so!" She roared at him, followed by two well placed star bolts, which hit him square in the chest.

Osiris cried out in pain, releasing Starfire, who quickly retreated to a safe distance while adopting a fighting stance. Osiris, still in pain, groaned before locking eyes with her.

"I was going to give you a quick and painless death. Now you shall suffer and your death will be prolonged."

Starfire aimed her hands at him and fired more star bolts (A/N: in the comics Starfire does not "throw" her star bolts as she does in the animated series. They simply shoot out of her hands, which curiously they do sometimes in the show as well.). This time Osiris was prepared for her and didn't even flinch as they bounced off of his chest.

"I have the stamina of Shu." He grinned at her. "You are powerful, princess from the stars, but your mortal powers are no match for the powers of the gods!"

Her face still bloodied, she snarled at him.

"I do not know these so called gods you speak of, but with X'Hal's help, I will defeat you!"

Starfire lunged at him, swinging her mighty fist. He deftly parried her strike and countered with one of his own, connecting on the side of her head. Starfire fell to her knees and he picked her up for a second time.

"You have fought bravely, but it is over." He calmly announced as he raised his fist, ready to deliver the final blow.

_**-( scene break )-**_

Donna and Cyborg were patrolling the north side of the mountain when they heard the tell tale sound of Starfire's star bolts echoing across the mountains. Donna tapped her earpiece, ignoring Nightwing's command to maintain radio silence.

"Starfire, can you hear me?"

There was no response.

"Star's in trouble!" Cyborg thundered.

Donna nodded her approval. Grabbing the Tin Man by one arm she took off into the sky, only to be intercepted by what appeared to be a Chinese dragon, which slammed into them with a powerful impact. The two Titans crashed into the ground, but quickly recovered and stood up. Cyborg enabled one of his sonic cannons while Donna unwound her lasso.

Tattooed Man emerged from the forest followed by Cheshire. His tattoos glowed with a supernatural iridescence while her evil blades glimmered in the moonlight.

"I'm gonna slice you to ribbons, Cyborg." She announced in a monotone devoid of any emotion. The flying dragon returned to Tattooed Man, who summoned a giant scorpion to take its place.

"I think Starfire is on her own for the moment." Donna remarked calmly.

Cyborg pointed at their opponents.

"You're going down punks!"

"We are?" Jade sneered back at him.

"Titans, Go!" Cyborg bellowed and the battle began.

_**-( scene break )-**_

Raven and Beast Boy were on the opposite side of the mountain from where the Titan Jet crashed. Beast Boy was morphed into a green polar bear and Raven rode on his back. She had her hands on her temples and was in deep concentration.

"So, can you sense anything Rave?"

She dropped her hands to her sides and opened her eyes.

"Our friends are in danger. They are all under attack. From what I sensed from Starfire, she's in big trouble."

The polar bear craned his neck to look over his shoulder at his empath teammate.

"Can you teleport us over there?"

"That shouldn't be a problem…"

Raven was interrupted by the sound of a gunshot. Beast Boy shouted out in pain and morphed back into his human form, clutching his right arm, which was bleeding profusely.

"Raven, Garfield, you aren't going anywhere."

Raven swirled around and saw him. His outfit was different as he wore no armor like he did in their universe and it was yellow and blue in color. His mask was only made of cloth and his single blue eye peered though the lone slit on the mask. Unlike their Slade, he was armed to the teeth. The high powered rifle he used to shoot Beast Boy was still smoking. He also had pistols, daggers and a huge sword that was sheathed on his back. Two bandoliers full of ammo crossed his chest in an X shaped formation. He calmly stowed his rifle while Raven ran to the changeling's side and began to heal his wound. She turned and snarled at Deathstroke.

"You will pay for that!" She snarled at him.

Deathstroke lunged at Raven with superhuman speed that made the demoness gasp, wrapping his left hand around her neck while he drew a high caliber pistol with his right hand. He pressed the gun's barrel against her forehead. Raven struggled to free herself but found that Deathstroke was even stronger than their Slade, which was hard to believe could even be possible.

"This is an unexpected pleasure, Raven. I get to kill you a second time, and as a bonus I get to send your idiot boyfriend to his grave as well."

Raven grasped at Deathstroke's iron like grip.

"You aren't killing anyone." She gurgled. "And he isn't my boyfriend."

Deathstroke snickered at Raven's remark.

"Then I suppose you will die a happy woman, Raven. Give my regards to the big red …"

Slade never completed his sentence as he was blindsided by a green tiger. The green feline smacked him with his uninjured paw, sending the villain tumbling. The tiger then pounced on the villain, taking a second swipe at his head. Slade ducked and one of Beast Boy's claws snagged on his mask, ripping it off his head. Raven, who was also sent tumbling when Beast Boy attacked Slade, was on all fours and stared mesmerized at the now exposed face of their long time nemesis. His platinum white hair almost glowed in the moonlight.

With the green tiger still on top of him, Slade drew a vile looking dagger and stabbed the tiger in its side. Had his target been a human and not a giant feline, the blade would have eviscerated its target, instead of penetrating only three inches.

Beast Boy howled in pain. Slade took advantage of the situation and stabbed the tiger with a syringe full of super power inhibiting serum. Within seconds the changeling resumed his human form. Slade turned the tables on Beast Boy and in a swift move that would have made a Jujitsu Grandmaster proud Slade was now on top of the wounded changeling.

"Why are you doing this, Slade? We never tried to kill you."

With his hand gripping the changeling's neck, Slade drew the huge sword from the sheath on his back. He pressed the sharp tip below Garfield's sternum, pressing hard enough to break his skin.

"It's what I do." The professional assassin replied.

_**-( scene break )-**_

Well, how do you like that? A quadruple cliff hanger!


	6. Chapter 6

Wally stared at the human torch who had both of her arms aimed at him. Red flames danced on her body, hungrily licking her extremities. A cruel smirk adorned her otherwise lovely face.

"If you don't resist I can make this quick, Flash. You'll barely suffer before you die."

"That doesn't sound like my kind of fun." He replied in a cocky voice. "Are you sure you wouldn't rather go out with me? I mean, you're smoking hot and I'm not saying that because you're on fire."

"You always have to have the last word, don't you?"

He shrugged his shoulders and grinned.

"Duh!"

A giant fireball emerged from her fists and hit where Wally was crouching, followed by a stream of liquid fire. The tree behind the speedster caught fire and within moments it was incinerated, reduced to a pile of ashes within mere moments. Cinder desisted from her attack, and placing her hands on her hips she grinned at the sight.

"It's too bad I had to destroy you, you were cute."

"Hey, thanks!" A voice called from behind her. She spun around and frowned at the speedster, who was leaning against a tree.

"What!?"

"You didn't think I was going to let you char broil me! Are you sure you wouldn't rather go out on a date with me?"

Cinder screamed as she shot another blast at the speedster, who dodged out of harm's way. He zipped all over the clearing as she continued to hopelessly target him with her fireballs.

"Stop moving, you coward!"

"And become a Flash-Kebob? No thanks."

The game of shoot and miss continued for over a minute.

"I can do this all day, Flash!"

"I'm counting on it!" He replied as he began to zoom up the mountainside. "Follow me if you can!"

The human flamethrower cursed before pursuing him up the mountain, firing as the elusive red target, missing every time and hitting either another tree or the ground, leaving a trail of flaming destruction in her wake.

"Come on! Your aim has to better than that!" He taunted her as he ran further up the mountainside. His escape route was blocked by a steep wall of snow and he slipped on some ice as he tried to stop, falling to the ground.

"Now I've got you! There's nowhere to run, speedster!"

"Can I get a do over on that?" He asked her with a pleading smile on his face.

Her response was to conjure a huge fireball and shoot it at him. He zoomed out of the way, and the giant red orb slammed into the wall of snow, detonating it in a huge explosion, which echoed up the mountain as it sent him flying. He flew past her, but she failed to notice him as her eyes were transfixed on the giant wall of snow.

"Uh oh!" He remarked after he crashed and got back on his feet.

A loud rumbling began to resonate in the valley.

"What is that?" She shrieked.

"Now you've done it!" He gloated at her.

"What!?"

Wally gestured with his thumb at the mountain.

"Avalanche!"

Cinder's eyes grew wide with fear.

"See you at the bottom cutie. It's too bad we aren't dating, cuz I would have taken you with me!" He chortled before disappearing into a red blur.

Cinder cursed her luck as she began to clumsily run down the steep mountain. Within moments she tripped and tumbled rolling on the ground several times before getting back up. The rumbling was getting louder and louder. It would be upon her in a moment.

She saw a large boulder and jumped behind it, while flaring up her body flames as much as she could. Within a few seconds the river of snow reached the boulder which at first shielded her from the avalanche's fury, diverting the torrent of frozen water around her. The shelter proved to be short lived as the avalanche was now hitting with its full fury and dislodged the huge boulder. Cinder turned to flee but was surrounded by snow. With her fiery shield at its maximum output she jumped into the snow, barely dodging the rolling stone. At first the snow around her melted, but its volume and speed only continued to increase. She struggled to keep her head above the snow but it was futile and she was soon buried under the snow. Without any oxygen her flames were smothered and she soon lost consciousness.

_**-( scene break )-**_

"You have fought bravely, but it is over." He calmly announced as he raised his fist, ready to deliver the final blow.

"It. Is. Not. OVER!" She yelled as she kicked him in the groin.

Osiris flinched and his grip loosened. Starfire broke away and retreated from the magical champion. His teeth were clenched and there was fury in his eyes.

"You will pay for that, alien!"

Osiris threw his shoulders back and a blast of lightning shot out of his chest, heading straight for the Tamaranian. She did her best to get out of its way, but the supernatural lightning followed her. She screamed in pain when it found her, feeling both an incredible pressure inside her and a sense of burning up. Mercifully it ended as quickly as it started. She collapsed onto all fours, willing her muscles to obey her, but they refused. Her vision was blurry but she was able to recognize him slowly approach her. Her ears were ringing and with a supreme effort she was able to touch one of her ears. Her fingertips felt warm and wet upon making contact. It was blood, and a lot of it. She began to panic, realizing that she was utterly helpless.

Once again, he gripped her shirt and lifted her from the ground. This time she was limp, defeated and unable to fight back. She did not feel fear however, at least not for herself.

"Richard, I am so sorry, I have failed." She murmured sotto voce.

"Time to finish the job. Too bad your X'Hal wasn't here to save you, Princess."

"She might not be here, but I am!" A voice thundered from just a few yards away.

Osiris broke out in laughter.

"Behold Princess; the circus boy has come to save you!" He thundered. "Grayson, what makes you think you can defeat me? She couldn't! I have the powers of the gods while you are a puny mortal, a mere acrobat. How could you possibly defeat me?" Osiris sneered.

Nightwing reached for his utility belt and removed a gadget the size of a cigarette lighter with a flashing light on it.

"Everyone has a weakness Osiris. Even Superman is vulnerable."

An evil grin appeared on the Shazam's Champion's face.

"You fool; there is no equivalent of Kryptonite for me! I am invincible! I am the Wizard's champion! Your little Bat clan toy can't harm me!"

Starfire had regained some of her lucidity and recognized her betrothed.

"Richard! You must flee; he will kill both of us. Save yourself."

"Too late for that princess, after I dispatch you to the underworld I will rip his limbs off, one by one!" Osiris announced in a blood lust infused glee.

"You're wrong, Osiris."

Nightwing pressed a button on the edge of the contraption. Its LED stopped flashing and became solid red as he tossed it at villain's feet, who gave it a curious look. His look turned to one of mortification as the small device played back an audio recording.

"Black Adam!" It shouted in his own voice. A voice that was captured by the Titans security system when he killed the other Starfire.

"Noooooo!" He shouted as he released the princess, who landed on her feet.

A cloud formed in the clear night time sky and a lightning bolt thundered down from the heavens, striking the villain with a blinding flash. As soon as it was gone it was evident to all present that Osiris was gone and had been replaced by an ordinary teenager. He had a terrified look on his face as he opened his mouth to say his master's name in order to change back into Osiris.

"Black …"

He never finished his incantation as Starfire's fist met his face, knocking him out cold. He crumpled onto the ground as a battered and angry Starfire stood above him. Nightwing leaped to her side. The first thing he did was tape Amon's mouth shut so that could not say his master's name, after which he bound him tightly. Satisfied that Amon was neutralized he embraced his fiancée.

"I'm sorry I'm late, Star."

"It was my fault, I chased after him, I did not draw him in as we planned."

Dick wiped away the blood from her face.

"You're a mess. I've never seen you this injured."

"I will survive, beloved. I only hope that the others are OK."

As she finished her remark a gunshot echoed in the valley.

"That's not good." He murmured to her.

"Slade." She replied in a worried tone. "Our friends!"

Grayson took her hand. "We'd better hurry!"

_**-( scene break )-**_

Sorry for the short update! I will have the other two showdowns up by the weekend.


	7. Chapter 7

"You want a piece of me, punk? Cuz if you do, I'm gonna open the biggest can of whoop-ass you've ever seen!"

Donna placed a calming hand on the cybernetic Titan's arm.

"Remember what we discussed, Vic. We approach this as a team."

Cyborg snorted.

"Like a loser with magic tattoos could even touch me."

"He did touch you, he destroyed your counterpart."

"No offense, Wonder Girl, but your Cyborg wasn't up to snuff if he let a loser like this creep beat him."

"Vic, he didn't beat your counterpart, he killed him."

Their opponents faced them, staring at them with steel cold eyes. Jade reached over her shoulder and unsheathed two razor sharp katanas, which she twirled with the greatest of ease as she adopted a flawless stance. Tattooed Man was wearing a tank top in the freezing cold, his bare arms, covered in all sorts of images, seemed unaffected by the subzero weather. He reached for his left wrist and touched it. A translucent scorpion appeared on his arm and after leaping off it began to grow, until it was the size of a house.

A quick ratcheting sound echoed as Cyborg's right arm reconfigured itself into a massive sonic cannon. The transformation took longer that it would have in his old school tech, but he grinned once the conversion was complete as the massive and shiny cannon that appeared on his arm had 20 times the power his sonic cannon had back at home.

The weapon fired, its sonic beam was virtually invisible to the naked eye. Its effect, however, was very noticeable and the giant scorpion, which still stood next to its master, shattered as if made of glass while Tattooed Man flinched in pain.

"Oh yeah! Who's the man now, punk?" Cyborg yelled as the villain grasped his wrist, which was bleeding in the spot where the now defunct tattoo used to be.

"I'll make you pay for that!" Tattooed Man shrieked.

"You and what army, punk?" Cyborg taunted him.

The villain grinned as he ran his hand across his right arm, and as he did all sorts of strange and translucent monsters appeared out of thin air.

"Oh, that army." Cyborg gulped.

Meanwhile, Donna was engaging Cheshire. She blocked the sword strikes with her arm braces but soon realized that was a losing strategy as the swordswoman would eventually get lucky and make contact with her blades.

Changing her tactics Wonder girl became airborne a quickly retreated from a screaming Jade.

"Don't run, you Amazon coward!"

Donna landed next to a grove of pine trees. She uprooted one and threw it at her opponent. Jade leaped into the air, stepping onto the horizontal tree's trunk. Several more trees followed in quick succession, each flying one higher than the previous one. Jade climbed up the series of trees as if they were a staircase, watching Wonder Girl continue to uproot and throw them at her. As Wonder Girl threw the last tree at her Jade grinned while tightening her grip on her swords.

It wasn't until she cleared the last tree, stepping on it and using it as leverage to jump even higher that she realized that she was 40 feet in the air. With her skill level she knew that she would be able to land on the ground below without injuring herself, but she also knew that she would be vulnerable to attack as she fell. She saw the uneven and rocky ground below come zooming up at her and when she looked up there was a volley of large rocks coming her way. She lashed out at them with her swords, knocking them away or just blocking then. This proved to be unfortunate for her as the distraction of blocking so many speeding rocks distracted her enough that she violently crashed on the ground below. She yelped in pain as her ankle broke and she went tumbling down the hillside. She then crashed into a rock and lost her grip on both her katanas. She reached for a dagger bit it was too late, as Donna intercepted her, striking her with an Amazon powered jab, knocking Jade out.

_**-( scene break )-**_

From a safe perch Wally watched the snowy avalanche flow down the mountainside, keeping an eye on Cinder as she was swept away. He lowered his goggles over his eyes and toggled them until they were on the infrared setting. He watched as Cinder tried to melt her way out of the snowy tsunami. She flailed and tried to reach the surface, but failed. Her infrared signature became weaker when her flames were extinguished. Wally continued to track her until the avalanche finally stopped.

"Hero time." He muttered as he ran off to her resting place. He ran across the white blanket left in the snow slide's place until he reached her, skimming over the powdery snow without sinking in. He then began to run in quick circles around her, creating a clearing around the unconscious villainess. He then stopped at her side, cradling her head in his hand.

"Are you OK?" He asked.

"Huh?" She replied as she blinked at him.

"Oh well, I guess I don't have to give you mouth to mouth." He grinned at her.

Wally produced a small syringe from his utility belt and injected its contents into her arm. She grimaced at the needle prick, after which she frowned at him.

"What was that?" She protested.

"10 CCs of inhibitol. You won't be able to light up for 48 hours, cutie."

"You .. you …." She stammered angrily as he cuffed her.

"You shoulda accepted my date offer, it's too late now."

She spat towards his face, which he quickly dodged.

"Your friends won't be so lucky, speedster!" She snarled at him.

A gunshot echoed in the valley. A worried look escaped from Wally's exposed mouth. Cinder grinned.

"If I'm not mistaken, Deathstroke just terminated someone."

For the first time, Wally scowled at her.

"You're wrong, bitch."

She grinned back at him.

"So, I presume the date offer is withdrawn?"

_**-( scene break )-**_

Cyborg staggered back at the sight of the menagerie that the Tattooed Man had conjured.

"Whoa." Was Victor's only response.

The villain, his dreadlocks dangling from his head as he crossed his muscular arms, sneered at Cyborg. He raised his right arm and pointed at the Tin Man.

"Get him!"

The menagerie attacked. It was composed of all sort of creatures, some real, some mythical. All were oversized. The ones that had faces snarled as they lunged at Cyborg, who began a hasty retreat as he fired his cannon repeatedly at the supernatural creatures.

His cannon found its mark repeatedly, but there were too many of them. As they drew near he converted his cannon back into a hand, getting ready for hand to hand/claw or whatever they had combat. The dragon that decimated his counterpart was originally in the rear of the pack and once Cyborg's cannon was stowed it leaped over the other beasts, its eyes fixated on its shiny target. Cyborg drew his arm back, ready to strike at the dragon.

"I don't think so, worm!"

As the dragon began to descend from the arc it was blindsided by a dark blur, which sent it crashing off to the side, where it rolled over and over in a stunned surprise.

"I got him Vic, you get the other ones."

The remaining menagerie consisted of smaller creatures, which Cyborg began to pummel.

"Thanks, Donna!"

The Tattooed Man quickly assessed the battle field as well as his now bloody arms, which bled for every creature Cyborg had already destroyed. Knowing that he battle was lost, he ran his hands over his arms, summoning his creatures back to his arm. He locked eyes with Cyborg before running back into the forest, disappearing into the darkness.

"Yeah, you'd better run!" Cyborg shouted as he angrily shook his steel fist in victory.

That was when a gunshot echoed in the valley.

_**-( scene break )-**_

Deathstroke tightened his grip around the changeling's neck. Unable to morph into an animal, courtesy of the Inhibitol Slade had just injected into him, Beast Boy tried to break free using his human strength. Even though his alternate version was muscular he was no match for the artificially enhanced Deathstroke and was trapped in the villain's clutches with the razor sharp sword still threatening to impale him.

"Don't squirm, Garfield, it'll only make the pain worse. Just relax and I'll make this quick and relatively painless." Slade growled at the changeling.

"Screw you, Slade!" Beast Boy gurgled as he tried to punch the villain.

Deathstroke emitted a deep guttural chuckle. "I try to be nice, and this is the thanks I get."

Raven watched the scene unfold, her eyes wide with horror as she realized she was about to witness Slade murder Beast Boy. She cursed herself, for not having her telekinesis powers in this dimension. She saw the fear in Garfield's eyes, the sense of helplessness, of not being able to fight back. Beast Boy turned to look at her and she saw a look of surprise on his face and it was then that she sensed it … she had her powers back. She could feel her eyes glowing black.

Raven gave a martial arts yell as she thrust her arm in Slade's direction. The vile sword was encased in her obsidian light and flew away, landing with a loud plop in a nearby snowbank. Slade fell down and Beast Boy climbed on top of him. He first reached for Slade's head and unintentionally ripped off his mask, exposing Slade's one eyed, goateed face. Slade realized that Raven was the real threat at the moment and quickly stood up. Beast Boy wrapped his arms around the villain's waist as he lunged at Raven, in a futile attempt to tackle him. Garfield briefly slowed him down, but with a powerful sweep of his arm Deathstroke was able to slap him away. Beast Boy's grip broke and he fell away as Deathstroke dashed towards Raven with a dagger in his hand. Raven tried to summon her dark energy a second time, but it was gone. Before she could react Slade reached her and with a lightning fast jab he stabbed her in the stomach. Raven felt a searing pain as Deathstroke twisted the blade in her gut before pulling it back out. Her hands instinctively reached for the wound and she felt her warm blood on her hands.

Raven braced herself as Deathstroke pinned her down. She tried to teleport away but she was in so much pain that she couldn't focus. Raven swallowed hard as the bitter truth became self evident: she was about to die.

"Raven, just so you know that this isn't personal, I'll end this quickly. Just relax; I will shoot you in the head. It will be over instantly."

Raven gritted her teeth as she struggled to break free, but she was already feeling weak from the blood she had lost. She saw Slade reach back for his pistol … only to find that it was gone.

A gun shot was heard.

Slade shouted in pain as he tried to stand up. Raven saw a bleeding wound in his back. He staggered away and after taking a few steps he collapsed into a snow bank, which was now stained with his crimson red blood.

Raven looked in the direction of the gunshot and saw Beast Boy, kneeling on one knee, still holding Slade's pistol in both hands while he trembled.

"Raven!"

He ran to her side.

"Oh my God, you're bleeding, you're bleeding real bad."

Raven grabbed the changeling's hand with a vise like grip.

"Garfield … thank you for … trying to save me …"

She locked eyes with him.

"… but I think … it's too late …"

"Don't talk, we're gonna get some help! You just hang on! You're gonna be OK!"

He tapped on his earpiece.

"Cyborg! Where are you?"

"I'm coming B, I heard the gunshot. What happened?"

"Slade stabbed Raven … she's bleeding like crazy … she's gonna die if we don't do something."

"Stabbed? What was the gunshot then?"

"I shot Slade."

The changeling turned to the snow bank.

Slade was gone.

Beast Boy's earpiece suddenly crackled.

"_Beast Boy, this is the Watchtower. Transporters are back online. We're bringing you and Raven up right now."_

Garfield felt his body begin to tingle as his surroundings began to fade away.

_**-( scene break **_**)**_**-**_


	8. Chapter 8

The Justice League medic meticulously stitched the facial wound. The room was silent as a graveyard while Nightwing watched her close up yet another wound. The medic, who had spent nearly 15 minutes stitching her patient who fiercely refused anesthesia, heaved a sigh of relief as the last wound was sewn shut.

"I'm sorry Miss Starfire, I did the best I could but I'm afraid you're going to have some scars on your face. I can refer you to a good plastic surgeon Earth side …"

The princess sat up and glared at the physician.

"I am a warrior. We wear our scars with pride; I am not ashamed of them." The Tamaranian snapped at her healer.

The doctor's face fell.

"I'm sorry … it's just that you're so beautiful … every woman on the station envies you. I just wanted to …"

Dick saw Starfire's expression soften.

"Forgive me, Doctor, you were only trying to help me, and for that I am grateful."

Nightwing frowned his displeasure and his confusion. Starfire had always valued her beauty. She even ran away when she went through her metamorphosis stage, as she was appalled by her temporary hideousness. Yet here she was, her face looking like a lump of ground beef, courtesy of the beating she received at Osiris's hands, and she was proud of it.

Nightwing turned Black Adam's sidekick over to Captain Marvel, who now had the Wizard's dark champion in his custody. It should have been plainly obvious to him why she was so oblivious to her appearance.

While her body was wounded, to the point where Dick was affected by her appearance, what was truly wounded was her pride. She has always been physically the strongest of the Titans, which was something in which she took great pride. That Osiris had been able to so easily manhandle the Princess struck a nerve with the golden alien. She had faced tough adversaries before, but never anyone like Osiris. And if anyone understood that wounded pride was the most painful type of wound, it was Dick.

"Thank you, doctor." Nightwing interjected. "Has there been any news about Raven?"

"Just a second, I'll check." She replied as she checked on a nearby console.

A look of concern on her face betrayed what Nightwing feared. It wasn't going well.

"She's still in surgery. Apparently Deathstroke caused a lot of internal damage." She paused. "I'm sure she'll be fine. Dr. Saenz is a superb surgeon ..."

The console interrupted with a beep.

"Excuse me … I have to go. If you need anything else, you can reach me through the stations' intercom system."

The medic picked up her bag and left in a hurry. As the door slid shut Nightwing pulled Starfire into warm embrace, which she reciprocated.

"I hope that Raven will be OK." She murmured to him.

He rubbed the back of her head while gingerly kissing her face.

"Raven's tougher than she looks. She'll recover … I was worried about you though … why did you run off chasing him? We had a plan."

She pulled away from him, turning away so she could not see him.

"It was a foolish act, beloved. After seeing how he killed her in such a dishonorable and cowardly way I felt the revenge lust in my blood."

"You could have been killed. He's a Marvel, Star. It's like taking on Superman."

"Now I understand … it's just that this Kori … she is so much stronger than I am at home … I thought I could defeat him if I caught him off guard and I was afraid he was going to escape. I should have seen that he was leading me into a trap."

"You're lucky I arrived in time, and even luckier that our little trick worked. Had it failed … we wouldn't be here now."

Kori contritely nodded her head.

"And Slade escaped." She changed the subject.

Dick crossed his arms and scowled.

"I can't believe Beast Boy shot him … we don't do that … it's not the Titan way."

Starfire spun around and glared at her fiancé.

"Beast Boy did the right thing! His only mistake was that he only shot Slade once!"

"Starfire, you can't be serious."

She slammed her fist on a sheet steel countertop that ran along the wall, leaving a noticeable dent in it.

"I am very serious! Our Slade is evil, but this Slade … he is … a monster. You heard what Beast Boy said; Slade twisted the blade while it was inside Raven. He inflicted excruciating pain on her for no reason. And now he has escaped … we have not seen the last of him, Richard."

_**-( scene break )-**_

The patient moaned in pain as the scalpel cut through skin, enlarging an already nasty looking wound.

"Are you sure you don't want at least want a local anesthetic? The wound is very deep; I'm not even close to being done cutting."

"Just be done with it. Anesthetics are a crutch for the weak."

"Very well, sir. Perhaps you would like something to bite?"

"Just remove the bullet, Wintergreen. I'll take care of rest."

Slade's confidant shook his head in disapproval.

"You will at least allow me to stitch the wound. I know you heal at a super human rate, but you don't heal that quickly."

"Of course, Wintergr …"

Deathstroke's remark was cut off as he winced in pain. He didn't allow a sound to escape his lips. He wouldn't give Wintergreen that satisfaction. After the burst of pain passed he heard the telltale sound of the bullet landing in a metal bowl, the clinking sound of metal bouncing on metal mercifully announcing that the ordeal was nearly over.

"You were lucky, sir. The bullet missed your vena cava by just a few millimeters."

"There's no such thing as luck, Wintergreen."

"And yet, the Titans are still alive, in spite of your best efforts."

Slade, his eye patch missing, craned his neck to look at his confidant. His good eye burned with the fury of hell, while his empty eye socket looked as cold and unwelcoming as a crypt.

"All of them? How can that be? I skewered Raven like a pig."

"Apparently you missed her heart sir. At least that's what Bumblebee reported. It appears that Raven's demonic physiology saved her, as her heart is in a slightly different place."

"What? That's not possible. I studied her scans … of course … she's from another dimension." Slade moaned as he sat up. "She used some sort of telekinesis against me."

"I did mention that they might be different from the original Titans …"

"Yes, Wintergreen, you did … don't be so smug about being right … where are they now?"

"They are in orbit, in the Watchtower."

"Out of our reach … you realize what this means?"

The butler and jack of all trades was busying cleaning up after the impromptu surgery. He loaded a tray for the autoclave, preparing to sterilize the instruments he used far too frequently to patch up his master and friend. In this regard Slade was different from most villains. He actually had a loyal friend who never questioned his actions, a friend who would follow him to the gates of Hell. Slade Wilson and William Randolph Wintergreen went way back. They served together in the military and both were decorated soldiers, fierce and brave beyond the call of duty. Slade earned Wintergreen's undying loyalty when against all odds he rescued his friend from a Viet Cong prison camp, after the chain of command decided to not attempt a rescue.

"It means that your reputation has been tarnished."

"No! Not tarnished, Wintergreen! Destroyed! I'm going to have to refund the Brotherhood of Evil their money; they won't accept any explanations that these are different Titans, from another dimension. There's no way we can prove that. We're ruined. All the hard work we have done over the years has been undermined by this failure."

Wintergreen calmly approached Slade.

"There is an event that might work to our advantage, sir."

"Really? And what could that possibly be? I'm wounded. I don't have a team anymore. Arsenal betrayed us. The Titans are out of our reach in the Watchtower. Pray tell, Wintergreen, what is this good news?"

Wintergreen sat down behind Slade, silently checking his handy work. Satisfied that it was perfect he handed a shirt to Slade.

"It's already begun to heal. As for the good news, Bumblebee has informed us that the Justice League has located the Titan's universe … they're going to send them back. Once the Titans are gone, there will be a press release and your name will be cleared."

Slade shook his head.

"No it won't. The whole world will now know that not only did I fail to Terminate them, they captured my team."

"You won't let this go, will you Wilson?"

Slade glared at his friend.

"Never. You have to understand something. This isn't just about my reputation, this is about my honor. Beast Boy shot me in the back with my own pistol. Do you really expect me to just 'let this go'?"

After a long pause Slade's majordomo replied.

"No, of course not. We are men of honor, first and foremost. And honor comes before everything."

_**-( scene break )-**_

Raven moaned as she woke up. Her midsection felt stiff and her whole body felt numb, as she was pumped full of painkillers. Her vision was blurry as she opened her eyes, and all she could distinguish was a green blob floating above her face. She blinked several times, willing her eyes to focus, which they refused to do.

"Raven, can you hear me?"

Yes, it was his voice.

"Are we dead?" She mumbled.

The changeling chuckled.

"That's my Raven, the never ending optimist."

Raven moaned a second time, while her vision came into focus.

"I'll take that as a no." She whispered. "I'm thirsty."

The back of Raven's bed in the Watchtower infirmary was raised and Beast Boy placed a paper cup of water in front of her, gently placing the straw in her mouth. She quickly sucked the cup dry.

"So why aren't we dead? Slade pumped you full of inhibitol and the last thing I remember was Slade twisting a dagger in my gut."

Raven gave the changeling a worried look as she noticed that he had a few days of stubble on his face, a clear indication that she had been out for days.

"Am I going to heal, Garfield? I feel like crap."

Beast Boy nodded.

"The surgeons said that even though Slade ripped your insides up pretty good that he missed your vitals. For once, being Trigon's daughter was a good thing. The doc said that Slade went for your heart; it just wasn't where it should have been. She said that you'll need to take it easy and do a few of those healing trances of yours. After that you should be ready for action again."

Raven's face expressed the relief she was feeling and Beast Boy took her hand.

"You're gonna be as good as new Raven, don't worry."

She looked him in the eyes.

"How did you stop him? Your powers …"

"Were disabled. If I ever meet whoever invented Inhibitol, I'm gonna kick his butt."

Raven frowned at him. She could sense he was hiding something.

"How did you stop him?"

A pained look appeared on his face as he struggled bring himself to tell her what happened.

"I shot him. I shot him in the back."

"You did? How? I mean, with what?"

Beast Boy stood up from the metal framed chair where he was seated and began to pace around the room, clearly procrastinating.

"When he went after you I tried to tackle him. After I got my arms around my waist he hit me with his elbow. It was like Star hit me, he's strong Raven, way stronger than our Slade. I almost blacked out and tried to hang on to him, grabbing whatever I could after I lost my grip. Somehow I pulled his pistol out of its holster before I fell to the ground. By the time I recovered he already stabbed you."

He paused.

"It was like the whole world went into slow motion. I can't get that image out of my mind, when he beheaded the other Raven. I wasn't gonna let him do that again … even if I had to kill him."

Raven's indigo eyes widened.

"Garfield, you didn't?"

He shook his head.

"No, he's alive, or at least he was when he escaped when I wasn't looking … I should have shot him more than once …"

Raven surprised him, jumping out of her bed.

"No! You're not a killer, Beast Boy! If you killed him, you'd never forgive yourself."

He crossed his arms.

"As always, you're right. But I did want to kill him, especially after he stabbed you." He said as he approached her, gently taking her by the arm. "But you need to get back into bed."

Raven acceded to his demand and got back into her med station without protesting.

"How are the others?"

"Robin and Cy are fine. Osiris beat the crap out of Star, but Robbie's trick worked and they captured him."

"We need to get home." She remarked. "I'm not sure that we'd survive another fight with Deathstroke."

"I did shoot him, Rave. He won' be back for a while, if he ever comes back."

Raven sighed.

"So how did it feel … to shoot him."

He looked away before replying.

"I won't lie to you; it felt good ... like I said before, after seeing him stick that knife in you I wanted to kill him."

"Now you know why Robin doesn't allow us to carry deadly weapons. The temptation is too great."

"Yet you and Star have powers that could kill people."

"So do you. You could eviscerate someone with your claws."

"It's not the same. Your powers and Star's are a lot deadlier. I've seen what her star bolts can do when at full power …"

"Which she never uses."

"And your powers, Rave, they're the deadliest of all, even if you do hold back all the time, but I remember when you threatened to kill Terra."

"In case you've forgotten, your little girlfriend was threatening to kill you first."

"I know …Raven … you used your powers in the forest to save me. How did you do that? Wally said their Raven doesn't have your telekinesis powers."

"I don't know what happened. I saw Slade was going to kill you … and something … snapped. I tried to summon them again later and they didn't respond, not even to save myself."

"Well, don't worry about it, Rave. There is some good news, the Justice League's figured out how to send us home. As soon as you're discharged from the infirmary, we're leaving."

For the first time since they arrived in the parallel dimension, Raven smiled.

"You're pretty when you smile, Rave. Promise me you'll do it more often when we get home." He said with a grin.

"I can't wait to leave this disaster behind. I'm so ready to go home."

"You and me both!" He crowed. "Now you rest up and get well."

He leaned over and kissed her on her forehead.

"I'll be back, I'm gonna go tell the others that you're awake."

As he charged out of the room she reached up and touched her forehead.

"The first time a boy kisses me, and it's in the hospital … on the forehead ... and it was Beast Boy."

She heaved a heavy sigh.

"I must be luckiest girl in the world." She muttered to herself in a voice dripping with sarcasm.

And then Raven did something she would rarely do. She smiled.

_**-( scene break )-**_

The next chapter of Fractured is in progress and coming soon. I am able to update Deathstroke so quickly because the first 14 chapters are already written.

This is Wintergreen in the show:

img2 dot wikia dot nocookie dot net/_cb20100426062624/teentitans/images/5/56/Wintergreen dot jpg

And in the comics:

img1 dot wikia dot nocookie dot net/_cb20130303004126/marvel_dc/images/2/21/Wintergreen_001 dot jpg


	9. Chapter 9

The never ending hum of the ventilation system was interrupted by her soft moaning, which continued as she curled up next to him, happily snuggling up to his warm body without waking herself.

It was three days since they came up to the Watchtower. Dick craned his neck to look out the transparisteel windows in their room, which kept the deadly cold of the vacuum safely outside of their abode. The beautiful woman who slept next to him kept him warm with her golden, unclothed body and made it all too easy to forget that their bedroom was 300 miles above the Earth's surface.

Three days ago she invited him to join her in the "mile high club". That invitation now seemed quaint, as they had set a new record; they were now members of the 300 mile club. Dick knew that members of the Justice League were not supposed to engage in amorous encounters aboard the station, as being aboard meant being on duty, and making the two backed monster was not something one did while "on the job".

Dick smiled. Being a Titan had its perks after all. He recalled the raised eyebrows the first night they all turned in for the night. Beast Boy set up shop in the infirmary to watch over an unconscious Raven who was recovering from her life saving surgery. Cyborg went off to recharge his systems as he did every night. Nightwing and Starfire retired to her room in the station's habitat ring. The walls were heavily insulated and thick, proving to be virtually sound proof.

Dick almost didn't want to go home. He found that he liked the "new" Starfire very much. While she was still the sweet and somewhat naïve girl who now lived in the voluptuous woman's body he saw a change in her. She was more direct and less inhibited. A lot less inhibited. Dick had wondered if he was going to survive their first night together, as he was afraid that she might snap him in half. In the end she did not, and he began to wonder if he would be able to go back to the "old" Starfire. It occurred to him that perhaps the old Starfire would never return. The Martian Manhunter had assured him that once they returned to their reality that their old appearances would come back, but what if he was wrong?

And what about their minds? Would his golden goddess revert to being the somewhat shy young woman she was at home?

Starfire moaned again. Dick gazed at her somnolent face. Her facial cuts had already completely healed. She wasn't joking when she told Val-yor, many years before, that her people were "most resilient". The medic's prediction came true, as four pronounced scars decorated her otherwise perfect face. It didn't matter one bit to him, as far as he was concerned they did not detract from her wild, alien beauty at all. In fact, he found them to be stimulating, erotic in an untamed way. Their lovemaking from the last three nights would bear witness to that.

Dick gently pressed his lips to hers and to his surprise she kissed him back. Even though they had done the deed just two hours earlier he felt arousal course through his veins like fire. She then opened her eyes and gazed into his blue orbs.

Sometimes he couldn't believe just how incredibly lucky he was.

"Kori, I love you."

"As do I." She replied as she opened her eyes. "Richard, there is something I wish to ask of you."

Dick cracked a grin that would have made the Joker envious.

"Anything you want."

She smiled back at him.

"I wish for us to have a bumgorph."

"But you already have Silkie. Do you want another larva like him?"

The princess snickered.

"No silly, I do not want another pet. I want us to conceive our first child."

Dick's smile disappeared and he went slack jawed.

"You mean you want us to have a baby?"

She nodded her head enthusiastically.

"But … why?"

She immediately became crestfallen.

"You do not wish for us to have children, ever?"

Dick swallowed hard.

"I didn't say that. I just mean, why now?"

"Why not? Are we not the soul mates?"

"Well … of course we are." He replied. The realization that he was doomed began to slowly settle in. There was no way he could win this discussion.

"Then why should we wait? The longer we wait, the fewer offspring we will have."

Dick would have tugged at his collar, had he not been buck naked in the bed.

"Star, uh just how many children are we going to have?"

"I do not know. I believe that the Earth custom is for the couple to decide together."

Dick felt as if his life was flashing before his eyes.

"Uh yeah, that's … right. Uh … Starfire … shouldn't we get married first before having kids?"

She smiled sweetly at him.

"In my culture it is not necessary."

"But what will Galfore say? He almost killed me that time I touched you and that was only on the shoulder."

"Do not be concerned. I will announce that you are my child bearing mate. He will be overjoyed upon hearing the happy news."

"Your child bearing what? Why do Tamaranians get married then?"

He snickered.

"Richard, marriages on Tamaran are only arranged for what humans would call 'convenience'. Commoners do not marry at all. Royalty do it to unite houses. Nothing more."

Richard shook his head in disbelief.

"So what happens to us if you were to marry for 'convenience'?"

"Nothing."

"Nothing? You mean your husband wouldn't object?"

"No, why would he? He would most likely already have child bearing mates."

"What? You mean you can have more than one?"

Starfire began to crack up and laugh boisterously. Dick gave her an indignant look.

"What's so funny?"

Starfire kept on laughing for over a minute, until she finally regained her composure.

"Forgive me, my beloved. I was doing the pulling of the leg to you."

Dick felt as if the weight of the world was lifted from his shoulders.

"So … you don't really want to have a baby … I mean, soon … right?"

She cupped his face with her palm.

"That was not part of the joke, Richard. And as for marriage, as long as we wed before the child is born, my honor will be intact."

Dick collapsed back into his pillow.

"This means a lot to you, doesn't it?"

She gave him a troubled look.

"Does it not mean a lot to you?"

"Why … yes … of course it does … why wouldn't it?"

She rewarded him with a smile.

"Forgive me for not asking you earlier, it is just that I forgot that it was the time."

"Time? Time for what?" He asked nervously.

"It is my fertile time."

"Whoa … whoa … whoa! Say that again!"

A huge smile appeared on her face.

"Richard, we are with child! And since this is an even month we will give birth to a daughter."

Dick felt the blood in his veins turn into ice.

"We're gonna have a baby, are you sure? Are we even compatible?"

She grinned at him.

"Yes, I asked Cyborg to have his friends at STAR labs verify our compatibility a few months ago, after we became lovers. They informed him that we are 100% compatible. This is why there were nights when I had the 'headache'. I did not wish at the time for us to conceive."

"But why now?"

"As I already said, it was an oversight, caused by our unfortunate presence in this universe … Richard … you look unhappy … do you wish for me to terminate our bumgorph?"

Dick's eyes became as huge as saucers.

"What!? NO! … Of course not! We could never do that!"

Starfire snuggled up next to him, wrapping her arms around him.

"Oh Richard, I am so happy!"

He stared into her solid green eyes and smiled.

"So am I, Star, so am I … I was just … caught off guard … surprised … say … you aren't pulling my leg again, are you?"

"No, I am not. And I have already selected a name for our daughter … we shall call her Nightstar."

The door to their room suddenly slid open, as they forgot to lock it. Beast Boy came charging in.

"Dudes! I've got great news!"

Starfire beamed and sat up in the bed, exposing her magnificent torso to the green changeling.

"So do we, dear friend Beast Boy! Tell us your news first!"

Garfield stopped dead in his tracks; slack jawed, and stared at the princess' otherworldly and fully exposed bosom.

"Eep" was the only sound to come out of his mouth. He quickly glanced at Dick … if looks could kill … he would already be dead. Beast Boy began to gesture and stammer incoherently.

"Wake up … infirmary … Raven … feeling better … recovering." He sputtered before turning tail and running out of the room.

"I'm a dead man … Dick's gonna kill me … I'm a dead man." He mumbled worriedly to himself as he ran back to Raven's room in the Watchtower's infirmary.

_**-( scene break )-**_

_The next day …_

Raven almost leaped out of her wheelchair.

"**YOU'RE PREGNANT!?** Are you sure? How in Azar's name did this happen? Haven't the two of you ever heard of using a condom?"

Starfire smiled sweetly at her mysterious friend.

"Tamaranians do not require such cumbersome methods. Our fertility cycles, unlike those of human females, are perfectly regular and precise. The window of fertility is exactly 3 days …"

"And yet Robin managed to knock you up. I hope he's proud of himself." The sorceress grumbled.

"We are both very proud, my dearest friend. Are you not happy for us?"

"Happy? Starfire, you are only 19 years old back home, where we will be returning in a few days in case you've forgotten. The Jump City media is going to have a field day with your out of wedlock pregnancy."

Raven paused, deliberating what to say next.

"He really is the Boy Blunder. Who else goes and gets a princess pregnant out of wedlock … he's always been incompetent with women … **HE'S SUCH AN IDIOT!**"

"Raven, that is not true!"

"Oh yes it is. Did I ever tell you about our one and only date?"

Starfire became wide eyed upon hearing the revelation.

"Raven, are you saying that you dated Robin?" Her voice betrayed a hint of jealousy.

"Once, and it was the shortest date in history. He asked me out to a movie, and told me to meet him at the movie theater on 12th street. Well guess what? It was closed for repairs! It was too late to go anywhere else. I told him that next time, I would decide where we would go."

"Where did you go?"

"There wasn't a next time. The next week we went to the pier, the time when the Centaurian Police tried to arrest you for Blackfire's theft. He never looked back."

"Oh, Raven, I am so sorry."

Raven sighed.

"Don't be. You were made for each other … so how did this happen … your pregnancy."

"It is quite simple, Raven. After adjourning to our room we disrobed, after that …"

"I know about the birds and the bees, Starfire."

"Forgive me Raven. I know humans keep bees to harvest their honey and birds such as chickens and turkeys are raised for food as well. Are you saying that on Earth meals are associated with …"

"IT'S AN EXPRESSION! IT'S A POLITE WAY TO SAY THAT I UNDERSTAND THE MECHANICS OF SEXUAL INTERCOURSE!"

Starfire giggle at Raven's outburst.

"You do? But you are a virgin. How could you know about this subject?"

Raven face palmed, and then glared at her friend.

"I read about it in a book." She hissed as she picked up a mug and sipped on her tea.

Starfire clasped her hands together while her face looked even sappier than usual.

"Oh Raven, a book cannot possibly explain the joy of physical intimacy. You should try it yourself. You should ask Beast Boy to be your lover! He is very fond of you and is also very handsome. You would have beautiful offspring."

Raven spat out her tea and nearly dropped her mug in the process.

"**HAVE YOU LOST YOUR MIND!?"**

"Do you not have feelings for our friend Garfield?"

"Of course I do. He's a good friend, a very good friend, one who I love dearly."

"So what is the problem?"

"We're not lovers. We're friends."

"On Tamaran there is a saying: Lovers are perfect friends."

Raven groaned.

"Raven, be honest with your feelings. You will be much happier if you do."

"Look, it's bad enough that you got knocked up. Why are you trying to drag me into this? Aren't you and the others happy now that Beast Boy and I are getting along better? **Why do you want me to have his children!?**"

Starfire giggled.

"Forgive me, friend. You are right; I am rushing you into this …"

"Starfire … it isn't going to happen … so stop scheming … please?"

Starfire continued to smile.

"Please forgive me, Raven, you are correct."

"Thank you."

"It is time for your final healing trance. After you complete it we will be able to go home tomorrow."

Starfire helped Raven onto the bed in her room.

"Rest well, dear friend."

As soon as Starfire left the room Raven closed her eyes and began to repeat her mantra. Slowly her body began to relax, but she couldn't enter into the healing trance, as a smiling green face kept appearing in her mind's eye.

"Damn you, Starfire. I'm gonna make you pay for this."

_**-( scene break )-**_

After so much intensity I figured we were due for a "fun" chapter. But make no mistake, our heroes are not out of the woods yet, not even close.


	10. Chapter 10

Beast Boy paused as he looked at himself in the mirror. In just two more hours they would be going home, or at least that's what the Martian Manhunter told them. He was going to open a portal between the two universes, a paradoxical corridor that defied logic and maybe even the laws of physics. Gizmo's dark whirlpool had shot them randomly out of their universe. It was only by sheer luck that they landed in this reality. The probability of landing in a universe devoid of life or even light was over 99%. The bald midget genius had callously sent them to their deaths. When Nightwing learned of this he became indignant and vowed to teach the Hive-5 a lesson they would never forget upon returning home.

Home. What a beautiful word.

The changeling stared at the reflection in the mirror. Soon he would be leaving behind this form, a body he had occupied for almost a week. It was only now that he realized that he was going to miss this form, with its buff figure. He was going to be short again too, and the face, yes, he was going to miss that too. Being able to talk while in his animal forms, that had already become second nature to him. That would also be hard to leave behind, even if it had only been a few days.

He was more than happy to leave the deadly and bloodthirsty Deathstroke behind. Slade had some class … but this guy … he was a mercenary … a hired gun … and a very deadly gun.

"Nice knowing you, Beast Boy." He said sardonically to his reflection. "Maybe someday I'll be a ladies' man just like you."

Beast Boy's pity party was interrupted by a knock on the door to his room.

"It's open … come in."

The door slide open, revealing the local version of Terra. She was dressed in her leotard and wearing her mask. He immediately noticed her pasty colored legs, which lacked the well formed curves that both Raven and Starfire had, even when compared to them back at home. It sort of figured, his Terra also lacked 'the curves' as Starfire once described the geomancer. But there was something about this girl, something that was plain and ordinary. She violated the unspoken rule, the one which stipulated that all female superheroes were supposed to beauty queens. Terra certainly didn't fit that description. She was a buck toothed plain Jane.

As the blond entered the room she removed her mask and she locked eyes with the changeling forgetting to close the door behind her.

"Uh … hello … Terra."

"Hello Gar, I heard that you're leaving today."

He nodded his affirmation.

"You didn't have to come."

"Of course I did. This is the last time I'll ever see you."

The blond quickly approached him and wrapped her arms around his surprised figure.

"Terra … I …"

"I know, you don't know me … but I know you."

He shook his head.

"In case you're wondering, there's a Terra back home."

"There is? Are you …"

"No, Terra, we aren't a couple back home."

She released him and the expression on her face couldn't hide the disappointment she was feeling.

"Of course, you're with Raven."

"What? Raven? Are you kidding?"

"I heard that you stayed at her side until she woke up after her surgery."

He hesitated before replying.

"I was worried about her."

"You love her, don't deny it."

The changeling scowled at the blond.

"Of course I do, but not that way … if there was anyone I loved back home … it was you."

"But … you said we aren't a couple over there."

He pushed her away and crossed his arms.

"We're not."

"But why?"

Terra saw the anger and resentment boil on his face. His body tensed as he balled his fists.

"BECAUSE YOU DUMPED ME!"

"No! I would never … why?"

"Hell if I know why! You told me that 'things change'. That was the last time I ever saw you, until we came here."

The changeling could see that the blond was in shock.

"Gar, I would never do that to you."

"Maybe, maybe not. It doesn't matter; we're going home in two hours."

Terra threw her arms around him. She buried her face into his chest and began to sob.

"It's not fair. I want you, and you're leaving."

"I'm sorry Terra."

She looked up into his eyes.

"Gar … I'll go back with you."

The changeling sighed.

"Terra, it wouldn't work. You're not the Terra I knew. And we had a different relationship than you did with your Gar … I never even kissed her."

Terra cupped his face with her palm.

"Gar, we were lovers here … until she stole you from me … Gar … I'll be yours … again."

Beast Boy felt his mouth go dry while she gestured towards his bed.

"Just say the word, Gar."

Beast Boy felt his cheeks become hot. No girl had ever offered him this before. Never.

"Terra … I can't … it wouldn't be right."

"Gar … I know I'm not pretty …"

"No, that's not it. And you are pretty."

"You're just saying that. Compared to Starfire, Raven or Donna, I'm fugly. I know it Gar."

"Terra …"

"I know I'm not arm candy, but I can be a good girlfriend."

He placed a hand on her shoulder and gave her a warm smile.

"You'd be a great girlfriend. But I have to go home and you can't come with us."

"Why?" Her voice trembled.

"Terra … we're strangers … you can't give up everything here to come chase after me … and besides that, I look really different back home."

She dropped her head.

"So … you don't want me."

"I'm sorry, Terra."

Beast Boy looked into the girl's blue, tear drenched eyes and for a split second he saw someone else … a shy girl who used to wear a butterfly shaped barrette in her hair.

"Terra …"

The geomancer grabbed his head and pulled him into a deep kiss. At first he flinched, but her lips were soft, moist and warm. He closed his eyes and surrendered to her, returning her kiss which became fierier by the second. He flinched again as she pushed her tongue into his mouth, but not only capitulated to it, his tongue joined hers in the sensual ballet.

"Beast Boy!"

The amorous couple separated with a jerk.

"What in Azar's name are you doing with her!?"

Terra turned and glared at Raven.

"You! It's always you, witch! What do you care? He's not your boyfriend."

Raven stood her ground, balling her fists as her body stiffened, her muscles rippling in anger.

"He's my friend, and if there's one thing I know is that he doesn't need YOU in his life."

Terra grimaced; the moment was gone, lost forever. Beast Boy slowly drifted away from her, clearly embarrassed that Raven caught him with his hand in the cookie jar. The geomancer then charged out of the room, deliberately bumping into Raven as she exited. Once she was gone Beast Boy made eye contact with the sorceress.

"Uh, sorry about that, Rave."

"You don't have to apologize to me." She replied curtly. "Terra's right, I'm not your girlfriend; you can kiss anyone you want." She replied. "Let's go, the Martian Manhunter wants to see us."

The changeling replied with one of his signature grins.

"Yeah … you're right … I can kiss anyone I want." He said with a heavy dose of glee as he exited his room.

Raven followed behind him, feeling an odd sensation in her chest. She muttered under her breath.

"Kiss her when we get home and you're a dead man."

_**-( scene break )-**_

_Charging cycle complete._

Cyborg yawned as he rose from the improvised "bed" in his room, which much like his bed back home looked more like a workbench than an actual bed. He yanked the thick power cable out of the socket in his midsection. It wound up around a large spool as he released it.

Victor hopped off the bed and checked the results of his sleep cycle diagnostics from a panel that popped out of his forearm. All systems were running at 100% efficiency, just the way he liked it. He tapped on the panel and it folded shut, hiding underneath the gleaming stainless steel and titanium alloy his outer shell was made of. Vic stared at his forearm.

"Can't wait to get home and back to my own tech. I look like a set of pots and pans in this getup." He muttered.

His train of thought was interrupted by an incoming call. Cyborg answered it on a nearby workstation. Red Tornado's "face" appeared on the screen.

"I called you as soon as your recharge cycle completed, Cyborg. Someone has come from the surface to see you before you leave. Please come to the main conference room."

"I'll be right over." Vic replied before shutting of the console.

As he made his way to the conference room he was passed by a very angry looking blond girl, who he then recognized as the local version of Terra. He stopped in his tracks, wondering why the young woman was so upset.

"Hey! Chrome dome!" A cheerful voice called out from the other end of the corridor.

Cyborg turned around and saw his green buddy sporting a happy grin. Raven was behind him and while she tried to hide it, he could tell that she was very upset.

"Ya'll also get called to conference room?"

"Duh!" Raven replied curtly as she walked right past Cyborg.

The tin man turned to chat with Garfield.

"Who peed in her Cheerios?" He asked.

"She caught me kissing Terra."

Cyborg grinned at his shape shifting buddy.

"BB, you sly green dog … so … how was it … c'mon … I want the play by play."

Garfield blushed.

"Uh, maybe I don't want to talk about it right now."

Cyborg glanced by towards Raven, who was entering the conference room at the other end of the long, curved hallway. A huge grin appeared on his face.

"Looks like we have a jealous little demoness on our hands."

Beast Boy groaned.

"What's with you guys? Raven's my friend. Why would she be jealous?"

Cyborg gave him a sly smile as they resumed their trek to the conference room.

"Uh huh, sure, she's just your 'friend'."

"Knock it off tin man, there's nothing going on between me and Rave."

"Ohhhkayyyy then, so how about instead you tell me what happened between you and Terra."

"I don't know. We were talking and then she just kissed me."

"Yeah, right, you were just talking …"

Cyborg's taunt was cut off as a blond woman ran out of the conference room and literally leaped on him, wrapping her arms and legs around him.

"Oh Vic, it's true! You aren't dead."

Cyborg turned to the changeling, who cracked a huge grin.

"So Cyborg, aren't you gonna introduce me to your girlfriend?" Beast Boy grinned evilly.

Cyborg turned back to the strange woman, looking utterly perplexed. She released him and a worried look covered her face.

"So it's true … you don't remember me."

Unlike Terra, this woman was simply gorgeous.

"Miss, you gotta believe me when I tell you, I sure wish I remembered you."

The woman stepped away. She looked unhappy to say the least.

"They told me you wouldn't remember me … I guess … I just hoped they were wrong."

Victor placed one of his massive metal hands on her shoulder.

"What's your name, little lady?"

Choking back a sob, she replied.

"My name's Sarah Simms." She whimpered.

"Sarasim?" Cyborg bellowed.

The young woman looked astonished.

"I've never told anybody about that … not even ... you … I mean him … you know what I mean."

"Told anybody about what?"

The woman crossed her arms and leaned against a wall. She looked embarrassed.

"It's nothing."

"I'd like to hear about it."

She sighed.

"OK, but promise me you won't laugh."

"Titans' honor" He swore as he raised his hand.

She sighed again.

"OK, you promised … a few years ago I started having these dreams … I was this … I don't know … I was a warrior chick in the stone age and you suddenly appeared out of nowhere … except you looked different … your armor … it had a lot of blue stuff on it … anyway … so I was this warrior and my name was Sarasim …"

"Whoa! You aren't pulling my leg, are you?"

"No, of course not, … how could you have heard of this 'Sarasim'? I've never told anyone about her."

"Because he actually travelled to the past and met someone like the woman you dreamed you were." Raven interrupted. She had quietly returned without being noticed.

"Raven? Are you saying that it wasn't a dream?" Sarah asked.

"I believe that in your case, that it was a dream."

"But why did I dream that? I mean … this actually happened to Victor … doesn't that mean that I'm Sarasim?"

Raven shook her head.

"No, at least not directly."

"Uh, Raven, what's that supposed to mean?" Cyborg asked.

Raven approached Sarah and walked around her. Her eyes were closed and she mumbled to herself as she walked around the blond.

"I think she might be a descendant of Sarasim."

"Uh Raven, that was 5000 years ago. I mean, Sarasim could have millions of descendants. Heck, you might even be one."

"I don't think so. Ancestral memories can be passed down if the lineage is narrow. Sarah, do you have a large extended family?"

"Actually, I don't. I was an only child, as was my mother, my grandfather and my great grandfather and so on."

Raven nodded.

"It explains everything perfectly. These memories have been passed subconsciously over generations. As long as they are passed down to a single descendent they remain strong, if hidden. When Sarah met you, it triggered them. Her sub conscience handled them the only way it could, it manifested them as dreams."

"So I'm not Sarasim?"

"No, nor are you a reincarnated version of her. I would be able to sense if you were."

Sarah turned away, fighting back her tears.

"So I guess this means you're going home, right?"

"Yes, I'm sorry."

"Would it be okay if I came, we could give it a …?"

Raven interrupted.

"That would not be a good idea. What if there's another Sarah Simms in our dimension? It could prove to be difficult if not disastrous."

"It's not fair." Sarah whimpered.

Raven placed a consoling hand on her arm.

"Sometime's life isn't fair. I'm sorry for your loss, Miss Simms, but he isn't the man you loved. You have to let him go. Your Victor Stone is gone. I'm so sorry."

Sarah nodded.

"I understand … I think it's time for me to go."

She stopped in front of Cyborg. She reached up and pulled his head towards her. She gave him a tender kiss before releasing him.

"Take care of yourself Victor. If I'm also in that universe of yours, I hope you find me there."

_**-( scene break )-**_

Looks like our friends are leaving some luggage behind!


	11. Chapter 11

Beast Boy was the last one to enter the large conference room. In addition to his teammates, Terra and Bumblebee were already present. The Martian Manhunter and the Dark Knight were standing next to a large console, which was producing a symphony of relay switch clicks and other whirring sounds.

"The portal is scheduled to open in about 5 minutes and will remain open for exactly 57 seconds. Once it closes the next windows of opportunity to cross won't be until this afternoon." The green alien informed them.

"Now would be a good time for farewells." Batman interjected as he extended his hand to Nightwing.

Dick hesitated before shaking Bruce's hand.

"Thanks for everything. I wish we caught Deathstroke."

"Your team did fine … I'm glad I got to see you again ... as for Deathstroke, we'll deal with him. You just worry about your own Slade back home."

Dick pondered whether or not to embrace his mentor's counterpart. He decided against it and merely nodded his head.

Donna and Wally made their rounds, saying goodbye to their new and at the same time, old friends.

"We'll try to make contact with your counterpart, Donna. From what I've heard she rarely leaves Themyscira." Raven promised. "I'll ask Wonder Woman to help us contact her."

Terra approached Beast Boy and hugged him without saying a word. After pecking him on the cheek she turned to Raven.

"Take care of him, witch."

"I always watch out for my friends' well being."

"That's not what I meant."

"Then what did you mean?"

Terra narrowed her eyes and leaned towards Raven, who gave no sign of feeling threatened by Terra's close proximity as her expression remained calm and unperturbed.

"During the year Gar and I were together your counterpart also pretended to not be interested in him, not until we became a couple. As soon as we were official she did everything she could to separate us. And once she accomplished that she was all over him. I never had another chance." Terra whispered.

"And this is relevant to me … because?"

Terra frowned at the sorceress.

"You're just a pathetic witch. You don't deserve him." Terra growled as she stepped away from him.

Raven felt her blood begin to boil and struggled to keep in emotions in check, even though they were at the moment not connected to any powers. As she debated whether or not to let Terra have the last word she heard an otherworldly hum which grew louder each second.

"The portal is open; it's time for you to depart." The Martian announced in his baritone.

Cyborg approached the portal first. He turned and waved goodbye before vanishing into the black maw. He was followed by Starfire, who was unable to control her waterworks and wept sorrowfully as she stepped through the portal, unable to turn and look back. Nightwing followed behind her, also waving goodbye.

Raven continued to glare at Terra, seemingly oblivious that time was running out.

"Rave, we gotta go."

She appeared to not hear him. Beast Boy then took her hand and gently tugged her towards the portal. At first she didn't react and he gave her a second, firmer tug. Raven finally acknowledged him and turned to the portal. Still holding hands, the soon to be Chromatically Challenged Couple™ entered the portal, which disappeared with a loud popping sound just a few seconds after they passed through it.

Terra began to weep inconsolably and Bumblebee came to her side, embracing the tearful blond and attempting in vain to soothe and console her, running her fingers through her hair.

"I'm never gonna see him again." Terra sobbed.

Bruce and J'onn felt out of place as they had no consolation to offer the geomancer. They quietly excused themselves and left the conference room along with Wally and Donna, leaving the two women alone in the room.

"Let's get out of here. There's nothing but bad memories in this place."

Terra nodded her agreement while she continued to cry.

"Hey! There's a great Italian restaurant I found in Brooklyn. You go freshen up and I'll meet you at the teleporters. OK?"

Terra nodded.

"It might take me a while." She continued to sob, but at a now slower rate.

"You take your time, Terra. There's no rush."

The two women exited the conference room together. Terra went left and entered a nearby ladies room while Bumblebee headed in the other direction. As soon as Terra entered the restroom Bumblebee stopped and ran back into the conference room and entered. Looking furtively over her shoulder she approached the console. She looked around one more time before pressing a button labeled "Eject". A whirring sound echoed in the room as a small flash memory card popped out of the console. Karen snatched it and slipped it into her utility belt. She then walked nonchalantly out of the room.

_**-( scene break )-**_

The portal felt ice cold, not unlike the experience one had when travelling via Raven's teleportation. For a split second you were present in both universes, which was a strange and unsettling process, which induced in some individuals as sense of nausea. Beast Boy could feel his body transform, which for him was a sensation he was very familiar with. The experience was short lived as the portal literally ejected them at the other end.

Still holding Raven's hand he tumbled onto the floor rolling several times as the momentum was strong. Once it was over he found himself, once again, prostrate on top of Raven. He looked into her face and grinned nervously as he quickly got off of her. His smile broadened as he looked around and saw the familiar sight of the common room.

He helped Raven to her feet. Before she could reprimand him for landing on her yet again an orange blur intercepted the gray demoness. Starfire dragged Raven to a nearby, full length mirror.

"Raven! Look! I am me … and you are you!" She cheered as she pointed at their reflections.

The sorceress blinked as she focused on the reflection in the mirror and look of melancholy took over her face. Robin, who was back in his signature traffic light costume, was typing furiously at a keyboard with Cyborg standing next to him, did not notice the two women's interaction. But the changeling did.

Starfire continued gushing happily about everything being back to normal while she continued to imprison Raven in one of her pincer like hugs. Raven continued to stare at her reflection, running her free hand over her face, tracing its contours with her finger tips.

"Sure. I'm back to normal. I'm good ol' gray Raven again." She said with a hint of dejection in her voice.

Robin turned from the console and addressed his team.

"Cyborg just verified through quantum signature matching that this is our home. We made it back!" The Boy Wonder cheered. "Also, Jinx and the Hive have been rather busy during our absence. They've been robbing with impunity and the police haven't been able to stop them. The mayor asked for help from the Justice League, but they don't have anyone available."

The Boy Wonder grinned before continuing.

"They don't know that we're back. In fact they aren't expecting us to ever return, which puts us at a great advantage. The next time they strike, they won't be prepared for us. We're gonna hit them and we're gonna hit them hard. That said, I want everyone to get some rest. There's a shipment of new 100 dollar bills arriving tomorrow for the central bank. We're gonna be there waiting for them."

Starfire wrapped her arms around her fiancé and kissed him.

"Tomorrow we will do the butt kicking, and the Hive will go to jail! It will be glorious!"

Beast Boy cleared his throat.

"Uh, Star, you are preggers. Is it a good idea for you to go into battle?" Beast Boy asked.

"Preggers?" She asked. "I do not know that word."

"It means that you are with child. And Beast Boy is right, isn't it risky for you to fight in your condition?" Raven interjected.

Starfire became crestfallen.

"You do have a point, Raven. This is, as Beast Boy would say, a 'bummer'."

The three males began to console Starfire. They knew that she valued her role on the team. Expecting a woman of a warrior race to stand down was asking for a lot and the Princess was unable to hide her disappointment. She even began to speculate that perhaps she could still serve during her first trimester.

"Raven, you said that you would try to contact Wonder Girl. She could backfill for Star, if we can convince her." Robin asked.

"I'll try, Robin. It might take some time to reach her."

"Understood … Titans … I want everyone to get some rest. We can go out for some pizza later."

Without another word Robin and Starfire left together arm in arm. Cyborg fired up the GameStation while Raven phased into the floor without excusing herself.

"Yo, B! Grab some chips and soda pop. It's Mega Monkeys time!"

Beast Boy stared at where Raven was standing just a moment before. The Tin Man noticed that he looked troubled.

"I'm gonna take a rain check, Cy. There's an errand I need to run."

"What, you're gonna go buy some tofu? There's plenty in the fridge, and it should still be good."

"No, no that." The changeling replied as he opened a window and morphed into a falcon. "I'll be back soon."

The talking falcon flew away. It took Cyborg a moment to realize what had happed. He wondered if anyone else had changed during the return home.

_**-( scene break )-**_

Back in Robin's room Dick was resting on the bed, reading a martial arts magazine, studying some new techniques that were covered in an article. He had kicked off his shoes and looked uncharacteristically relaxed as his lanky figure was sprawled on his huge bed. Starfire was also resting on the bed, using his stomach as a pillow while she read a bridal magazine.

"Richard, what do you think of this dress?"

"huh?"

She sat up and showed him one of the new dresses in magazine.

"Do you like this one?"

Dick's first instinct was to tell her to pick whichever wedding gown she liked the best. Fortunately for him, Alfred Pennyworth's training in the art of being a gentleman had not gone to waste. He knew that he would have to feign interest, even if it meant making some semi reasonable remarks. He took the magazine from her and studied the candidate gown carefully before composing a comment.

"I think it's too frilly."

"But I like the frills."

"I think frills distract from your naturally beautiful figure."

She looked back at the page with a nonplussed look on her face.

"I see your point." She quietly replied as she resumed her position, once again using his stomach as a pillow. She continued flipping through the pages.

Dick stifled a sigh. There were going to be so many decisions to make in the next few months. Even after Starfire selected a dress there would be a million decisions to make about the wedding ceremony, the reception, the honeymoon. And after that the baby would be born. For a moment he wondered about how would be able to pay for all this. Of course, Bruce would pay for everything, he reasoned. Then he remembered that while the other Bruce knew of Starfire's pregnancy, his Bruce and Alfred didn't have a clue.

"Star, let's call Bruce and share our news with him."

"Oh, yes, let us do so!" She agreed enthusiastically.

They both hopped off the bed and sat down in front of the special console Robin kept in his room. After keying in a secret Bat clan code the console placed a call to the Batcave. To their immense surprise their call was answered by a spandex clad red head.

"Dick! You guys are back! Where have you been? The Justice League's been searching for your everywhere since the Hive-5 claimed to wipe your team out."

Robin rubbed the back of his neck.

"Hi Babs. We … took a detour."

"Where?"

"Uh, to another universe."

"Whoa! That sounds intense. Are you guys all OK?"

"We are better than OK." Starfire gushed happily.

"Ah! So you guys finally set a wedding date, huh? It's about time."

Robin tugged at his shirt collar.

"Actually, the date hasn't been set yet … but it will be soon … actually I was calling to ask if Bruce could … uh … give us some money to pay for the wedding?"

Alfred's happy mug appeared on the screen.

"Your Highness, Master Richard, this is splendid news! I will come out to Jump City as soon as possible to help with the planning and preparations. Please tell me, when are you thinking of holding the wedding?"

"As soon as possible!" Starfire squealed with excitement.

Babs grinned.

"Aren't you two the eager beavers? So why the rush?"

"Oh friend Barbara, I have the most wonderful news!"

Babs grinned.

"Well, don't keep us waiting, what is it?"

"I AM WITH CHILD!" The princess shrieked with delight.

Robin face palmed, but watched the screen between the fingers of his hand. Babs jaw almost hit the floor while Alfred's eyes boggled. This wasn't good.

"Are you not happy to hear that we will be having a bumgorph?"

Surprisingly, Alfred was the first to recover his equanimity. He coughed before replying.

"Yes your Highness, that is wonderful news. I will do everything I can to expedite your wedding ceremony." Alfred paused and smiled. "Master Bruce a grandfather? Miss Gordon, how do you think he will react?"

Babs was now grinning from ear to ear.

"He's totally gonna freak out!"

"That will be good … yes?" Starfire asked timidly.

Barbara began to laugh.

"Don't worry Starfire, once he gets over the shock, he's gonna be thrilled … so … have you picked a name?"

"Oh yes, we will call her Nightstar!"

"Nightstar? … oh … I get it … Dick, you're gonna become Nightwing, right?"

"That's been the plan for a while, so yeah." He replied.

Barbara stroked her chin.

"That's a good hero name, but shouldn't she also have a regular name? Or is she gonna be Nightstar Grayson?"

Starfire tapped her fingers together while she pondered the question.

"Richard, we could name her after your mother, Mary."

Dick nodded.

"How about if we name her Mar'i? It sounds Tamaranian."

"Richard, that is a glorious name!"

It was then that Dick noticed he wasn't worried anymore about becoming a father. And that, he decided, was a good thing. A very good thing.

_**-( scene break )-**_

Raven groaned as she collapsed into her bed, her arms spread wide. She had been trying to meditate for the past hour without any success whatsoever. Unlike the others, she wasn't feeling jubilant about returning home. The moment she saw her gray, demonic reflection in the mirror, accentuated by her unnaturally violet colored hair, she felt a lump in the pit of her stomach. Once again, she looked like a freak: an unlovable, ugly monster, a demon. In just the few days she spent in the other reality she had grown accustomed to being the beautiful Raven with her Mediterranean complexion and her dark hair.

It was pointless to obsess over this, she told herself repeatedly. Looks were superficial after all, it didn't matter what she looked like.

And yet … it did matter to her … it mattered a great deal.

She clenched her teeth as she groaned in self loathing anger. She recalled how Malchior had read her like a book, and took advantage of every single insecurity she harbored. She still remembered when he called her a "beautiful maiden". She almost melted when she heard him say that. If was fortunate that Malchior wasn't really a man, or who knows how much more he would have taken advantage of her. Tears welled in her eyes. And to make things worse, everyone kept teasing her about Beast Boy, as if he actually liked her that way. What were they thinking? No one thought of her that way. And if Robin made another one of his stupid "old married couple" wisecracks, she would …

Her train of thought was interrupted by a knock on her door.

"Raven? I know you're in there. Can I come in?"

Raven's first impulse was to correct him on his incorrect usage of 'can' when he should have said 'May I come in?' She decided to let it slide. Her second impulse was to tell him to go away. Curiously, she also ignored that impulse.

"The door's unlocked." She replied.

The changeling timidly entered the sorceress' abode. As always it was dark inside, with the curtains closed. A single, massive, multi wick candle illuminated the room in its amber glow, casting long shadows that danced on the walls like foreboding spirits, warning him to leave while he still could.

"Hi Raven."

Still facing the ceiling while lying on her bed she greeted him.

"Hello Beast Boy."

The changeling rubbed the back of his head as he walked up to her bed.

"Hey … uh … are you OK? You looked kind of unhappy back in the common room."

Raven hesitated. Normally, she would have said that everything was fine. But now, for some reason that was unknown to her, she couldn't lie to him.

"No, I'm not."

"What's wrong?"

"Isn't it obvious?"

This time it was Beast Boy's turn to decide whether or not to lie to his friend.

"You're unhappy with the way you look."

Raven sat up in her bed.

"How did you know?"

"I remember what you said in the other universe, when you said 'so this is what it's like to be pretty'."

"And I was wrong?"

Beast Boy had one of his hands behind his back and brought it forward. It was a bouquet of purple roses.

"You're pretty Raven, don't ever believe that you're not."

He handed the bouquet to her. She was speechless as she accepted it. She stared at the delicate violet flowers, and caressed one of the delicate petals with her finger tips. After what felt like an eternity she spoke.

"No one's ever given me flowers before."

"It's about time … do you like them?" He asked hopefully.

Tears began to drip down her face.

"Yes, I do." Her voice warbled.

She put the flowers down and wrapped her arms around the green changeling.

And this time … Cyborg didn't clobber Beast Boy with a stank ball … and Beast Boy reciprocated Raven's hug.

_**-( scene break )-**_

Cyborg tossed the GameStation controller aside. He'd been playing for over an hour and had gotten a new high score more than once. Deciding that it was time for a pre-dinner snack, he made his way to the kitchen. He pulled out the necessary ingredients to make a Cyborg Hero sandwich and was just finishing up the foot long culinary masterpiece when the videophone rang, announcing an incoming call. He jogged back to the circular couch and using one of the remote controls he picked up the call.

"Titans Tower … Cyborg speaking …"

The giant screen came to life, displaying a gorgeous blond woman. She looked to be in her early to mid twenties.

"Mr. Cyborg?" She asked.

The Tin Man chuckled.

"Just call me Cyborg. What can I do for you, little lady?"

The woman began to hem and haw as she was clearly unprepared to speak with the Cybernetic Titan.

"Uh … let's see … where did I leave my notes … bear with me … I'm so sorry …"

"Relax, just tell me why you called. Is there an emergency?"

The young woman blushed.

"What was I thinking? You're the city's protectors. I shouldn't be calling you about this … but it would mean so much to the children."

"Children? Which children?"

The young woman finally began to relax.

"I'm sorry, I'm a teacher at a school for children who have mechanical prosthesis … they have mechanical arms, legs and hands. The children idolize you Cyborg … we're having a school fair this weekend and I was wondering if you could come. I know you're probably far too busy to come … I just had to ask … but I understand if you can't come … what was I thinking?"

Cyborg began to laugh.

"I'd be more than happy to attend your school fair!" He beamed. "Just let me know where and when, and I'll be there."

"Really!? The kids, they won't believe it when I tell them that you'll be there … it's at Conrad Ball School, this Saturday, starting at 9 AM."

"I'll see you Saturday, little lady. Oh, I forgot to ask, what's your name?"

The young woman was almost hyperventilating.

"Of course, I didn't even introduce myself, I'm so sorry!"

She paused to catch her breath.

"My name is Sarah Simms."

_**-( scene break )-**_

On the far side of town, in an abandoned railroad yard, a dark portal opened. It's loud hum startled a pair of stray dogs which scurried off to what they felt was a safe distance. The portal grew until it was eight feet in diameter. It's black surface rippled as if it was made of water and two men stepped out of the dark circle.

The first man who emerged was wearing an outfit accentuated with armor in select locations. His face was hidden behind a metal one eyed mask. He was carrying two swords, a sniper's rifle, a sawed off shotgun and small submachine gun. Several bandoliers crossed his chest.

The second man to emerge appeared to be elderly. He was thin and somewhat stern looking. He also carried a submachine gun and was loaded down with ammo too. After examining himself he turned to his masked companion.

"I didn't fare as well as you did in the crossover, Wilson."

"You'll be fine Wintergreen, don't allow yourself to be distracted by trivialities, we need to focus on the mission."

Wintergreen loaded a clip into his weapon, which snapped in with a loud click.

"You need not worry, I haven't forgotten. Do you think this is the right place?"

"We'll soon find out how good the information Bumblebee sold us is."

Deathstroke chuckled as he pointed into the distance, towards a T shaped tower in the middle of the bay. Wintergreen saw it as well.

"It looks just like the old Tower in New York, before it was destroyed, Wilson."

"We're in the right place, Wintergreen. Of that there is no doubt."

_**-( scene break )-**_

Many thanks to those who read and even more thanks to those who review!

And a question for you, since most of you are reading both this story and Fractured. I am going to put one of these stories on the back burner, meaning that updates will be less frequent for that one.

So, which story do you prefer I focus on more? Deathstroke or Fractured. I promise to finish both stories, but one will get more attention from me.


	12. Chapter 12

Wintergreen frowned at the T shaped Tower that stood proudly in the middle of the bay. While the resemblance with the tower that once stood in New York City was uncanny, it was painfully obvious to him that this wasn't the Big Apple and that the island the tower stood on wasn't in the Hudson River. There was something different about the tower, something elusive, intangible. The cross section at the top almost looked like a pair of open arms, extending their brotherly protection to the strange city.

"This city is unfamiliar to me, Wilson. Do you recognize it?"

Deathstroke didn't acknowledge his question. Instead, he walked over to an old and battered trash can. He quickly began to rummage through it and soon found what he was looking for: an old newspaper. It was crumpled into a ball and he quickly flattened it out and found the front page.

"The Jump City Journal. What a clever and original name." Deathstroke spoke in a monotone.

"Jump City? I've never heard of such a place."

"Apparently, it's in California." Deathstroke remarked as he tossed the paper back into the trash can.

"So ... what's the plan, Wilson?"

The one eyed mercenary extended a small telescope, which he produced from his utility belt, and carefully scanned the tower as he peered through it with his single good eye.

"We learn as much as possible about the Titans and their home city, while we remain out of sight."

"And how will we do that, Wilson?"

Deathstroke was about to answer when he threw a shuriken to his left. The spinning steel star flew into a long shadow cast by an abandoned boxcar. It made a piercing sound, having hit a solid target. Wintergreen aimed his machine gun at the mysterious intruder, who remained invisible to them. He did not shoot, as Deathstroke gestured him to hold his fire. The mercenary's confidant gasped when he heard a woman's voice emerge from the dark void.

"Slade! What the frak is wrong with you?"

A lithe woman, no more than 20 years of age, emerged from the shadow. Her long blond hair framed the angry frown on her face. But what distinguished her the most was that she stood on top of a small boulder, which floated in the air like a soap bubble. Deathstroke quickly figured out who she was. He also deduced by her reaction that they were not adversaries in this world and he also knew that she had no idea that he was someone else.

"Terra! What are you doing here?" He barked at her.

An indignant look erupted onto her face.

"I'm doing what you told me to do! I've been spying on Titans Tower for almost a week!"

"And judging from your body language, you finally have something to report."

"Yeah ... I do." She harrumphed.

"Excellent." He replied in his monotone.

Deathstroke knew that he and Wintergreen needed a place to hide. What better place could there be than one of his counterpart's lairs. Unfortunately, he had no idea of where they were, but the young blond who floated before him on a rock might just know. At this point though, he wanted to avoid meeting his counterpart.

"Do you remember where the emergency safe house is?"

"Sure I do, but you said that we should never use it except in the case of an absolute emergency."

"Now is such a time."

Terra gave him skeptical look.

"Is there something I should know about?"

"I will tell you everything at the safe house, and you will give me your report there as well. Also, summon a larger boulder. I want you to transport all three of us to the safe house as quickly and discreetly as possible."

The geomancer gestured with her hands and a huge boulder popped out of the ground. The three of them hopped onto it and Terra immediately began to guide it to a nearby forest. Deathstroke smiled behind his mask, as his own safe house back home was also hidden in a forest.

"Slade, you haven't forgotten about our deal, right? Nothing happens to Beast Boy. I don't care what you do to the others."

Deathstroke was already beginning to like the blond's attitude.

"You have made it clear on more than one occasion. I understand that Garfield is precious to you."

She frowned at him. "Garfield? Who's Garfield?"

Deathstroke chuckled.

"It's Beast Boy's real name."

She looked aghast.

"You knew his name, and you never told me?"

Deathstroke chuckled.

"His full name is Garfield Mark Logan. Consider that piece of information as a gift, my dear Tara Markov."

Terra's face became red as a tomato.

"Are there any other secrets you want to share with me?" She fumed.

Deathstroke once again chuckled.

"Maybe later."

"I don't trust you, Slade."

"Then you are wiser than you look. Never trust anyone, Terra."

She crossed her arms.

"You always say that. And why are you armed to the teeth? And with guns? And why is Wintergreen with you?" She pointed at the elderly majordomo. "All he ever does is feed you and clean up your messes."

"All will be explained in due time. Be patient, child."

Terra's boulder began to descend and Deathstroke immediately recognized the camouflaged entrance to the underground lair. It was identical to the one he had back home in upstate New York. Terra landed next to it. He flipped away the fake rock that concealed the hand reader and placed his palm on it. With a heavy shudder that raised a small cloud of dust, the door slid open.

_**-( scene break )-**_

After what felt like a blissful eternity, Beast Boy and Raven released each other from their mutual embrace. They looked at each other and blushed. Beast Boy noticed that he was holding both of her hands and discreetly let them go.

"So ... uh ... maybe you should put those in a vase ... you know ... so they don't dry out." He stammered.

Raven turned her attention back to the bouquet, which was lying, still wrapped in the floral shop wrapping paper, on her bed. She picked them up and sniffed them. There were twelve flowers and they were beginning to open up. She savored their delicate aroma. The wrapping paper had the logo of a well known Jump City florist printed on it.

"You got them from Rowe's" She remarked as she rummaged through her shelves, looking for something that could serve as a vase.

"I didn't want to get those cheap ones they sell at the supermarket." he replied.

Raven found a suitable vase substitute and filled it with water in her bathroom. She unwrapped the flowers and began to arrange them in the vase, remembering how she had seen Starfire do it every time Robin gave her flowers. Beast Boy watched silently while she fussed over the floral arrangement, until she was done and stepped away from the vase to admire her handiwork.

"Thank you, Beast Boy. They're very pretty."

He beamed at her and opened his mouth to reply, but she cut him off.

"Please don't say I'm pretty like they are."

He knew it was an argument she wouldn't let him win, so decided to change the subject.

"Hey, so ... uh ... ya wanna go do somethin' ... somethin' fun ?"

She arced an eyebrow as she replied.

"You know I don't like video games."

He grinned at her.

"I have a better idea."

Raven's heart froze.

"I also don't like to play stank ball either." She blurted.

"Forget stank ball ... this'll be a lot more fun."

"It will?"

He smiled as he took her hand and began to drag her out of her room.

"You're gonna love it! But we have to stop by my room first."

"Do we have to?"

"Oh don't worry Rave, I cleaned it up. You're gonna love it."

They were already in the hallway when she dug in her heels.

"Beast Boy, maybe this isn't such a great idea ..."

The changeling morphed into a gorilla, scooped her up, and began to lumber down the hallway towards his room.

"C'mon Rave, you need to have some fun!"

Raven did a double take upon hearing the green gorilla speak to her.

"Beast Boy! You can talk while in your animal forms!"

The green simian smiled at her.

"Yeah, I guess I didn't forget how to do that after we got back. Cool, huh?"

Raven, who was still being carried by Beast Boy, looked up into his face.

"Beast Boy, please put me down!"

The gorilla stopped in front of his door and morphed back into his human form.

"C'mon Raven, just give it a chance."

Raven stared nervously at his door,

"You are going to be a gentleman, right?"

"What!? Of course I am! What do you think I want to do?"

"Nothing. I just wanted to be sure."

He laughed.

"We both know that that if I tried anything, you'd kill me."

She nodded her head.

"You're right, I would ... fine ... go ahead and show me your room."

He smiled at her.

"Actually, I just came to get something ... after that we'll go have fun outside.

His door slid open, and Raven followed him in, wondering just what "fun" activity he had in mind.

_**-( scene break )-**_

Robin and Starfire had returned to their comfy arrangement on the bed and spent the last hour reading magazines. Starfire was elated by the state of relaxation they were sharing as it was virtually unheard of for the Boy Wonder to relax like this. But they continued uninterrupted, Starfire reading her bridal magazines while Robin read more serious material. She would occasionally show a bridal gown in one of the magazines to him.

Robin eventually finished his magazines and tossed them on the floor. Starfire continued reading her magazines, humming happily to herself while she continued to use his firm stomach as a pillow. It certainly wasn't a soft pillow, but she didn't seem to mind.

Robin began to caress her face with the back of his hand. She giggled, but continued reading her magazine. He then removed his glove and caressed her again. This time he got a better reaction.

"Robin, would you please remove your mask?"

The Boy Blunder grinned, as that was a her coy little way of saying that ...

His increasingly lustful thoughts were interrupted by an incoming call. Robin glanced at the console and saw that the call was coming from Gotham. Even though they had called an hour earlier, Robin suddenly felt a lump form in the pit of his stomach. There was no doubt in his mind who was at the other end.

The young couple approached the console, and Robin answered the video call. His heart sank when he saw the cowl. But, to his immense surprise, Batman was smiling.

"Dick, Starfire! Alfred just told me the news! Congratulations!"

Robin tugged at his collar.

"Uh ... did he tell you everything?"

"Of course he did! I'm going to be a grandfather! Imagine that! Of course, once Selina finds out she's going to want to have a baby too!"

Robin's mask boggled in surprise.

"Bruce! You can't tell her!"

The Dark Knight laughed.

"Relax. You're going to marry Starfire as Dick Grayson. You can't marry her as Robin, or even as Nightwing. Those are aliases, secret identities."

"I didn't think of that, but won't it seem odd if Dick Grayson marries Starfire of the Titans?"

"It won't, because you're going to marry Kori Anders. The Justice League is already creating that identity for you, Starfire. I already sent a message to Cyborg, he's going to make you one of his holorings. We have it covered."

"Right ... so Bruce ... you aren't ... angry with me?"

"I would be had you not asked her to marry you already ... I'm going to be a grandfather ... when Clark finds out ... oh well ... I guess I'd better get ready for all the grandpa jokes."

Robin heaved a sigh of relief.

"Alfred, Babs and I are coming tomorrow. We'll see you both of you then."

The connection was severed.

"Well, that went better than I hoped." Robin remarked.

Starfire had already wandered off to the window and was looking outside.

"Richard, you worry too much. But come, you must see this."

Robin joined her at window and looked in the direction she was pointing.

"Well I'll be damned. Somewhere, there's a pig flying. Either that, or hell just froze over."

_**-( scene break )-**_

Starfire silently flew down from the Tower's rooftop, carrying Robin, holding him under his arms. She floated down with the grace of a feather and Robin silently pointed towards a large boulder. His fiancée nodded enthusiastically and they landed behind the large rock. Dick raised his index finger to his lips and she responded with a smile. They each found a vantage point behind the boulder. Before they peeked from their hiding place they heard the sound of laughter.

Raven's laughter.

Simultaneously, they peeked just in time to see Raven throw a Frisbee. That in itself was odd enough, as Raven never engaged in physical activity, well, except when Robin forced her to do so, which wasn't the case at the moment.

They watched the disc fly from Raven's hand. She was actually rather good at it as the disk took off at a good rate of speed as it shot away from her. As they watched the Frisbee fly a green dog seemingly appeared out of nowhere. Beast Boy looked like a Border Collie and he chased after the flying disc. As soon as he was close enough he jumped into the air, performed a series of acrobatic somersaults and caught the disk in his mouth. After landing on all fours he morphed back into his human form and threw it back to Raven.

"See! I don't always wipe out!"

"I like it better when your landings fail. It's more entertaining." She shouted back to him as she caught the disc.

"Hey! I was just getting warmed up. And could you throw it faster next time? You throw like a girl!"

Raven's eyes narrowed, like they did years before when she creamed Cyborg with his stupid stank ball, brimming with sly mischief.

"Oh, I throw like a girl, huh?" She muttered to herself.

Raven launched the disc again. This time it was enveloped in her dark energy and it shot out of her hand like a missile. The green Border Collie reappeared and gave chase. At first it appeared to be a hopeless pursuit as the orange Frisbee flew away but Beast Boy turned on his own afterburners and amazingly began to catch up with it. He followed it, but the disc gave no indication of slowing down. He could feel his lungs burning and fatigue was beginning to set in. It was now or never.

The green dog leaped into the air, this time skipping the acrobatic show. The surroundings vanished for him, all he could see was the Frisbee. He closed in on it and stretched his neck. In a moment of triumph he got his frontal canines on it and bit down hard, trapping the disk with the skin of his teeth. The green dog actually smiled in victory. He then remembered that he still had to land and was determined to not give her the satisfaction of seeing him crash and burn. He looked down in anticipation of landing.

And saw the waters of the bay below him.

With a yelp he crashed into the choppy waves. Starfire had to cover her mouth to not laugh at the scene. Raven was less polite and roared with laughter.

A few moments later a green California Sea Lion emerged from the waves, with the Frisbee in its mouth. Raven, who was now doubling over in laughter, met him on the beach. The changeling morphed back into his human form, spitting the disk into his hands.

"OK, I was wrong. You don't throw like a girl."

Raven grinned in triumph and they didn't hear the couple approaching them, that is until Starfire could no longer contain herself and began to roar with laughter.

"Good one Raven!" Robin congratulated her. "I have announcement to make in the common room, so if you could stop messing around with your boyfriend and come back into the Tower ..."

"He's/I'm not my/her boyfriend." They interrupted him in a single voice.

"Yeah, sure, you go ahead and say that. Don't worry, we won't tell Cyborg."

Starfire was clasping her hands together. She began to twirl on her feet as she raised her hands into the air.

"Oh friends, what glorious news! You are now a couple!"

"Star! That's not funny!" Beast Boy protested.

Raven turned towards him.

"We don't have to put up with this abuse." She growled.

"Damn right we don't." He replied.

Raven raised her arms and one of her black flying circles appeared.

"Let's go get something to eat."

"Sounds good to me." He replied as he jumped onto the black circle.

They left without saying goodbye. As they flew away their discussion continued.

"Wanna catch a movie after we eat?"

"Sure, but not one of those zombie movies you like, they're dumb. If we go, I'll pick the movie."

"No fair!" His voice trailed off as they flew further and further away. "You always pick boring movies where a bunch of chicks just talk..."

Robin crossed his arms and smiled. Starfire hooked her arm into his and sighed happily.

"I think that I now understand what you mean when you say that they are an old married couple"

Dick wrapped an arm around her waist and drew her closer to him. A feeling of contentment permeated him and that was when he realized it: everything was perfect.

Nothing could spoil his now perfect life, he reasoned.

What could possibly go wrong?

_**-( scene break )-**_


	13. Chapter 13

I think you're going to like this chapter.

_**-( - )-**_

The Slade-bot executed a flawless roundhouse kick, which would have connected with its target, square in the head, had it not been for an equally perfect block. Before the droid could retract its leg it was hit by a bo staff. Its head came off its body, which began to twitch as its electronics began to short out. Before it collapsed onto the floor in a smoldering heap it was replaced by two more Slade-bots, which attacked the target with even more vigor.

Slade crouched and with a sweeping arc of his leg he kicked their legs out from them. As they fell to the ground he finished them off with lightning fast jabs to their faces, leaving a pronounced crater in each one.

Slade stood up and surveyed the sparring room around him. Twenty four Slade-bots lay in ruin and the repair droids were already collecting them for a quick side trip to the repair shop.

"Time!" Slade bellowed.

"1 minute and 27 seconds, sir." An elderly looking butler replied.

"Disappointing. The artificial intelligence enhancements only added 7 seconds to their survival time." Slade announced in his monotone. "I'll need more than that level of skill to take out Robin's team."

Wintergreen approached with a tray that contained an ice cold bottle of a blue colored sports drink. Slade removed his metal mask and chugged the bottle, dropping the empty container back onto the tray.

"Has there been any word on the Titans, sir? Perhaps Gizmo's boast is true and …"

Slade glared at his confidant. His black eye patch stood out in sharp contrast to his platinum blond hair.

"Gizmo is an incompetent idiot, Wintergreen. The Titans are not dead. Not by a long shot."

"Are you certain of this, Slade? There has been no sign of them for over a week."

"They are alive; there is no doubt about that."

As Slade replaced the mask on his face a nearby console began to beep. Wintergreen scurried over to it and quickly typed out some commands on the keyboard.

"What is it?" The silver haired Cyclops asked.

Wintergreen frowned as he continued to type.

"It appears that we have intruders in the forest safe house."

Slade leaped to the console.

"Get me a visual, now!"

The majordomo shook his head.

"I already tried that. Visuals are down."

Slade slammed his fist on the console.

"How did they break in?"

Before Wintergreen could reply Slade saw the answer on the console's video display.

"Interesting … it says that I'm the one who opened the door … we are dealing with someone who is very clever … too clever for his own good."

Slade keyed in a command sequence on his wrist band. Several dozen Slade-bots that were standing at attention came to life.

"Wintergreen, you stay here … I'll take care of our uninvited guests."

_**-( scene break )-**_

It was Beast Boy's turn to load the dishwasher, which was a light task as Cyborg had ordered pizza for lunch. Using his foot he shut the door on the washer and after pressing the start button he bounced back to the common room. Cyborg was seated on the far right on the crescent shaped couch and was reading a car magazine. Raven was at the other end reading one of her dusty old books. Starfire and Robin were seated in the middle and they were reading a catalogue from the local "Baby Warehouse" store. The princess had a yellow pad and a pencil, and she was busy compiling a list of baby items to purchase: a crib, a changing table, a high chair, a baby car seat for the T-Car, clothes, blankets, toys, books, the list appeared to be endless and Dick looked both bewildered and overwhelmed.

Beast Boy stifled a chuckle and jumped over the back of the couch, landing next to Raven. He picked up the graphic novel he had left on the coffee table earlier and resumed reading it. Even though each section in the couch was independent his landing slightly shook Raven, who briefly looked at him before returning to her book.

Starfire ripped yet another sheet from the yellow pad and handed it to Robin. He now had seven sheets, each covered in the Tamaranian's scribble, in his hands.

"Uh … Star … how about we take a break? Bruce, Babs and Alfred are going to be here soon."

The princess leaped to her feet.

"Oh yes! I must make with the haste and get ready! I do want to make a good impression with my future father-in-law!" She replied as she flitted out of the room, disappearing behind the dual sliding doors.

Cyborg moved over and sat down next to Dick. He took Starfire's wish list from Robin and grinned as he read it.

"She's got you whipped, hair gel boy! Look at the size of this list! You might as well just go to the store and say 'give us one of everything'."

Beast Boy snickered at the tin man's remark. Robin noticed the slightest hint of a smile briefly appear on Raven's lips while she continued to read.

"It's the old ball and chain for you Robbie. You're doomed." Beast Boy finally spoke up.

Robin scowled at him for a moment, and then a slight grin appeared on his face.

"You tell me. You guys are the 'old married couple' in the Tower."

Raven put her book down.

"Will you please give it a rest!?" She complained in her monotone. "It was cute, maybe even funny at first, but now it's just plain old. Can't you think of anything better?"

Robin paused and grinned before continuing.

"Actually, I can … so how was your date yesterday?"

"It wasn't a date." She snapped at him.

"Hmmm…." Cyborg interrupted. "Dinner and a movie … that sounds like a date to me."

Robin guffawed. Raven narrowed her eyes.

"Cyborg's got a point there." Robin needled her.

"Don't you have a wedding to plan or some Lamaze classes to attend?" She snapped back at him.

The tin man and the boy wonder got up from the couch.

"Oooh … looks like we hit a nerve." Cyborg gloated.

"Let's give them some privacy. They probably want to mess around, maybe even French kiss." Robin replied.

The two men erupted in laughter as they left the room. Raven harrumphed just before the doors slid shut again.

"What is with them?" Beast Boy complained.

"Why are they so obsessed with us? And kissing? Where did that come from?" She complained.

Beast Boy shrugged and they both resumed reading. After about a minute had passed, the changeling cleared his throat.

"Uh … Raven?"

She looked up from her book.

"Yes?"

"I know it's none of my business … but … have you ever kissed a guy?"

Raven raised an eyebrow and waited for an eternity before replying.

"You're right … it's none of your business."

"Sorry, Rave, I didn't mean to …"

She raised a hand to silence him.

"But no, I haven't. I know what you're thinking. I never kissed Malchior, just so you know."

"And what about the Goth Boy you met at the night club? You guys seemed to hit it off."

Raven snorted.

"Him? You gotta be kidding; once he understood who I was he lost all interest in me, which is OK because to tell you the truth he was kind of boring."

She paused for a moment and looked at him in the eyes.

"OK, I spilled my guts … now it's your turn, green bean … have you ever kissed a girl?"

The changeling sighed.

"Nope … but I almost kissed Terra … stupid Slade had to show up and ruin it though."

"Eww … you mean you actually wanted to kiss her."

"I didn't know she was a traitor." He sighed.

"Never mind that … I mean … Terra? Really? You can do better than her. Way better."

"It doesn't matter anymore … she's gone … things change and all that stuff. I never meant anything to her."

"Well … at least she only dumped you … Malchior fooled me to get out of that book."

The changeling leaned back in the couch and heaved another sigh.

"Wanna bet you get your first kiss before I do?" He asked.

"Yeah, right. I think I even creeped out Goth Boy. Who in his right mind would want to kiss me?"

"I would."

Raven did a double take.

"What did you say!?"

The changeling sweat dropped.

"What I meant is that … uh … if things were different … I mean … you are pretty … and uh …"

She placed a hand on his shoulder and rewarded him with a small smile.

"I know what you meant … thanks."

He smiled back at her.

"Have you ever wondered what it's like? You know … to kiss? When I think of it I get scared." He asked.

She blushed.

"Yes … I have wondered what it's like … it scares me too …" She looked off into the distance and had a dreamy look in her eyes. "I wonder how soft a boy's lips are."

He turned to face her.

"I wonder if it tingles. You know … fireworks and all that."

She leaned closer to him. His green lips looked moist … warm … soft … welcoming … inviting.

"People say that the first kiss is the most special one you'll ever have." She murmured.

Their lips were now just inches from each other.

"They say you'll never forget it." He replied.

They both closed their eyes and swallowed hard. They drew closer and could feel each other's breath. Raven felt her heart rate skyrocket and Beast Boy was a geyser of emotions that flooded her psyche. She wanted to stop, it was a train wreck in slow motion, but she couldn't stop. She felt the euphoria grow in her chest and she began to tremble. As they approached she could feel the warmth radiate from his lips. They were just millimeters apart and …

The sliding doors swished open.

"Friends! I have wonderful news!" Starfire shouted.

Raven and Beast Boy both shrieked and almost hit the room's ceiling.

"Oh forgive me." Starfire blushed. "Am I interrupting something?"

Raven quickly recovered her equanimity.

"Not at all. Beast Boy had something in his eye …"

"And Rave got it out." He added in an unconvincing, squeaky voice.

"I see … you Earthlings have so many uses for the lip contact … I suppose that it makes sense … Raven would immobilize you with the lip contact while she uses her powers to remove the object in your eye. I shall have to make a note of that in my journal for future reference." She smirked.

"So what is this great news?" Beast Boy asked. "And would you mind not telling Robin or Cyborg about what you just saw?"

Starfire giggled.

"Do not worry; your kiss shall be our secret."

The changeling's ears drooped.

"Star … it wasn't a kiss … it wasn't … right Raven?"

"I … uh … yeah … that wasn't a kiss." She stammered.

Starfire smiled.

"Of course it was not. I was only doing the teasing … and the good news … Robin's knorfka … Mr. Pennyworth, has brought us a feast to celebrate. They are bringing it down right now."

Beast Boy was the first to react.

"You mean Bats is here!? Whoa! What are we gonna do?"

"I think we should set the table." Raven replied. "They'll be down here in a moment."

The changeling ran into the kitchen and began to rummage through the cabinets.

"Where does chrome dome keep the good dishes?"

"I don't think we have any." Raven replied. "All we have are plastic dishes."

Starfire giggled again.

"Mr. Pennyworth has brought what he calls 'the good china' and said that he will set the table, so do not be concerned with the setting up."

The princess grinned slyly. "I will go and assist Knorfka Alfred! You may resume the removal of foreign objects from Beast Boy's eye." She snickered as she exited the room.

Raven and the changeling stood next to the large table, without speaking to each other for over a minute, until Beast Boy spoke up.

"Rave, what happened? Did we really almost …"

"Don't say it! As for what happened … I don't know … what I do know is that Starfire won't keep her mouth shut …"

She groaned loudly and face palmed.

"Oh Azar, Robin and Cyborg are going to be teasing us about this forever, we'll never get them to shut up … what are we going to do?"

"We can do what I always do ..."

"Act dumb? That won't stop them for a minute."

Beast Boy shrugged.

"I can't think of anything else …"

He snapped his fingers.

"Actually … there is something we can do."

Raven gave him a quizzical look, mixed with a hint of impatience. Beast Boy wrapped his arms around her and pressed his lips to hers. Her eyes bulged and she felt paralyzed with shock. Her first impulse was to blast him with her dark energy, but she quickly overcame that urge. Surprising even herself, she wrapped her arms around him and reciprocated his amorous gesture. After a blissful eternity they separated. She gave him one of her signature glares.

"That has to be your stupidest idea ever, how is that supposed to help us?"

He gave her a sly smile.

"I figured that if they're gonna tease us, it might as well be for something we actually did."

She shook her head dismissively.

"You're an idiot." She complained just before pulling him into another kiss.

"Maybe I am, but now I'm your idiot." He gasped between smooches.

"Shut up and kiss me more before I do something horrible to you."

"Ooh … I love it when you get kinky …"

They resumed their snogfest and lost all track of time until they were interrupted by a loud 'booyah'.

_**-( scene break )-**_

They were now one hour into the feast and much to Raven's relief the focus had been entirely on Robin and Starfire. Batman was sitting at the head of the table, with his cowl removed. Compared to the intimidating man in the cowl Raven had encountered on a few occasions, Bruce Wayne was the epitome of charming and debonair. Robin and Starfire sat at either side of him, facing each other. Starfire seemed to be deliriously happy, even by her own standards. She was enthralled by Bruce, even having her arm hooked around his while they both chatted and laughed. It was more than clear that Bruce was infatuated with his soon to be daughter in law.

Robin was looking particularly gloomy and didn't seem to be enjoying the gathering at all. Babs was sitting next to him. Like Bruce, she had also removed her cowl and her red locks now flowed freely.

"C'mon Dick, it won't kill you to smile."

"What's there to smile about?" He grumbled as he nodded towards Bruce. "I've been struggling for years to get out from under his shadow … look at Star; she's eating out of his hand."

"Would you be happier if he didn't like her?"

"Maybe." He growled.

"Don't be stupid, Dick. Bruce has missed you; he's missed you a lot."

"So why hasn't he told me this?"

"For the same reason you haven't told him that you miss him."

"I. don't. miss. him." He snarled.

"Yeah, you tell yourself that, Dick … can't you see it? Or are you being too pig headed, as usual?"

"What am I supposed to see?"

Babs shook her head condescendingly.

"He's thrilled! I've haven't seen him this happy in ages. Certainly not since I became Batgirl."

"And what's he so happy about?"

At that very moment Bruce placed a firm hand on Robin's shoulder.

"Dick! You haven't said a word to me all evening. And you're still wearing your mask."

Robin grudgingly peeled the mask off his face, dropping it unceremoniously on the table.

"There, are you happy now?"

"Richard, why are you so angry with father Bruce?" Starfire asked innocently.

Bruce raised his hand just as Dick was about to respond.

"It's my entire fault, Starfire." The billionaire replied. "I was unfair to Dick; I didn't recognize that he had grown, that he was more than my sidekick."

The table fell silent.

"Dick is a lot more than a sidekick to me. He was my partner, even if I forgot to tell him that. But he's more than that … Dick is the son I never had … I'm so proud of you Dick, of everything you've accomplished …"

Alfred was rinsing dishes in the sink and Beast Boy, with his sensitive ears, overhead him mutter something that sounded like "It's about bloody time he said that."

"… and now Starfire is going to be my daughter and she's going to give me my first grandchild."

The Tamaranian's grin went from ear to ear, and she clapped her hands gleefully.

"Dick, would you please forgive me?"

Dick stood up and locked eyes with Bruce. Starfire saw tears well in his eyes.

"Only if you forgive me too."

Bruce and Dick embraced and everyone present, including Alfred, erupted into raucous applause.

Raven could feel the wave of relief that emanated from Dick's mind. Anger that had been bottled up for years, which was the source of his obsession with crime. Robin was the prodigal son, who felt he had to prove himself to his father, the Batman. But he didn't want to admit that to himself. It was easier to lie, to say he didn't care what Bruce thought of him.

Cyborg was sitting next to Raven and turned to her.

"It's about time!"

"Yes, it most definitely is about time." She replied.

Cyborg leaned closer to her, whispering into her ear.

"But don't think that you're off the hook, Ravie-poo, or whatever the grass stain calls you. The ribbing begins tomorrow, and it's gonna be good."

"Cyborg … must you do that?" She sighed.

"Are you kidding? This is a once in a lifetime opportunity. My little sister has a boyfriend, her first boyfriend …"

"He's not my boyfriend."

"Sure he is. So why the green bean? I thought you were more into Goth Boy…"

"Oh please, I hung out with him one night for 10 minutes."

"Fine, so why Beast Boy? I'm not ribbing you now, Raven. I really want to know."

"I have my reasons. That should be good enough for you. And if you press the issue you'll take Garfield's place as my whipping boy, and I don't mean that in the fun kind of way."

Cyborg smiled at his diminutive teammate.

"I am happy for you and B. I was wondering if you guys would ever pull the trigger. Everyone's been wondering when it would finally happen."

"Thanks Cyborg, I appreciate that you can approach this as a mature adult…"

"But I'm still gonna rib you guys, and good."

Before Raven could reply Bruce stood up and clinked loudly on his wine glass.

"I want to propose a toast … to Kori and Dick."

"Hear, hear!" Alfred shouted.

"Cheers!" Everyone shouted as they clinked their glasses together.

Dick glanced across the table and locked eyes with Starfire. He couldn't remember a time when she ever looked happier.

"I love you."

"As do I." She replied.

_**-( scene break )-**_

OK, don't tell me you didn't like this chapter!

So Bruce and Dick have finally reconciled … and all it took was an out of wedlock pregnancy.

BB and Raven got busted.

And Slade is in for a REALLY big surprise (and so is Terra)


	14. Chapter 14

Well, I was disappointed with the reaction to the previous chapter. I guess it shows that I don't really understand you, dear readers. Oh well, maybe you'll like this chapter more.

This is the last of the original chapters I wrote two years ago. Starting with the next chapter, it's all new material.

_-( - )-_

The safe house was much smaller than Slade's lair in the heart of the city. It lacked the industrial presence that was common to all of his hideouts, the automated robot factory, with its ever turning gears, was absent. It was small, fitting entirely inside a small hill in the forest. The main purpose of the safe house was stealth, and it was very good at it. Slade had gone through many hideouts throughout the years, abandoning them when they were discovered by Robin and his band of Titans, but the safe house remained undiscovered over the years. It was rarely used as Slade occupied it only as a last resort. There was the time when the Titans resisted his blood stream occupying nanobots, when Slade set the self destruct on his lair. There was also the time he disappeared after Trigon was defeated. As far as the Titans knew he had vanished those times into thin air, yet he had been under their noses the whole time, preparing for his next comeback.

The safe house had 4 levels and left no discernible energy signature outside, making it 100 percent undetectable. It was invisible in the infrared spectrum as it leaked no energy. It also used very little power as it ran off of batteries that were recharged via special vegetation that created a mild electric current, a technology that Slade had stolen years ago from Star Labs. The level of stealth was so perfect that the Titans could walk past the front door and not see it. Not even the sorceress would be able to sense his presence as the lair had perfect psychic shielding. No matter how hard they looked, all they would see was a hill covered in trees and vegetation. It looked no different than any other surrounding hill.

Terra had been sent to her room by Deathstroke, where he instructed her to stay until further notice. She had now been in exile in her room for five hours and was growing restless. He gave her no explanation as to why they had to flee to the safe house and from his demeanor she knew better than to ask. She was used to Slade being stingy with sharing information with her, but her patience was beginning to run thin, plus she had hunger pangs as she hadn't eaten anything in a day.

Her room was on the bottom floor, four levels below the surface and the kitchen was just one level above. She paced around her small room, debating what to do next. After several minutes she decided that she would disobey him and go to the kitchen to get something to eat. Better to ask for forgiveness than permission, she reasoned.

The doors were the old fashion kind. No power hungry sliding doors in the invisible safe house. She gently opened her door and peered into the hallway, which was dim as it was illuminated with low powered LED lights. Confident that no one would see her; she tiptoed out of her room and made her way to the stairwell. She cautiously walked up the stairs and stopped at the door with the huge number '3' stenciled on it. She leaned against it, pressing her ear to the door. She waited a minute before opening it. Besides the kitchen, level 3 contained an infirmary and a small library that contained a computer and television set.

The kitchen did not resemble one you would find in a suburban home. It lacked power hungry devices such as a refrigerator or a stove. In fact the only appliance in the kitchen was a microwave oven. Terra opened the pantry, which was heavily stocked with cans, bottles of water and other liquids and boxes full of vacuum packed food.

She picked up a can of beef stew and her stomach growled at the prospect of consuming its contents. She put it back on the shelf, deciding that she wanted to minimize her time in the kitchen as heating it would take too long. Instead, she grabbed several pouches of military MRE's (meals ready to eat) which required no preparation. She shoved them into a plastic bag and headed back to the stairwell. Slade would notice later that some MRE's were missing, but would probably say nothing.

Terra once again tiptoed to the stairwell and carefully opened the door. She heaved a sigh of relief as she began to descend back to level four. Just as she was about to open the exit door from the stairwell she heard it: the sound of laser fire followed by a dull buda-buda-buda of machine gun fire, which resonated throughout the safe house. This meant one thing: they had not only been discovered but their defenses had been breached.

Terra dropped her rations and ran up the stairs. There was more gun fire; she discerned two different weapons being fired, which meant that Wintergreen had joined into the fight. As she cleared the second level the gunfire became louder, and she also heard more laser gun fire. The twang from the laser shots was all too familiar: Slade-bots!

As she reached the last door she tried to make sense out of what she was hearing. They didn't keep any Slade-bots in the safe house as it lacked the power infrastructure to recharge the androids. Perhaps Slade had summoned them to the safe house. That would be unheard of though.

What kind of trouble were they in? She wondered as she opened the stairwell door.

The geomancer had to duck as a volley of laser blasts nearly hit her. They did impact against the door, which exploded in a shower of detritus and shards.

"Slade! It's me! Don't shoot!" She hollered over the din.

"Why are you here, apprentice!?" He shouted at her from a place out of her sight. "Why did you come to the safe house?"

"What are you talking about? You brought me here!"

"I did no such thing!"

Terra's mind began to race, trying to make sense of the illogical situation that faced her. Within a split second she came to the only logical conclusion she could find.

"Slade! There's an imposter pretending to be you! And he has a guy that looks just like Wintergreen!"

The buda-buda of machine gun fire drowned out her next sentence.

"I'm not an imposter." Slade's voice rang out.

"I'm coming out now, so don't shoot." She shouted.

Terra emerged from the stairwell wrapped in an outfit made out of concrete that she peeled from the walls. Both parties had ceased their fire and she cautiously stepped into the middle of what used to be the safe house's operations center. Other than some destroyed Slade-bots that were strewn across the floor there was no sign of the combatants.

"Which one of you is the real Slade?"

"I am." A voice shouted out from her right.

"I am." Another voice shouted from her left.

"What? That's crazy! You can't both be Slade!"

"And yet, we are." The monotone voice reassured her.

Terra gritted her teeth. Someone was trying to pull a fast one on her, and she didn't care for it one bit.

"Come out, both of you. I want to see you at the same time."

"Terra, even you must realize that wouldn't be very productive." The voice from the right called out. "All of my Slade-bots have been destroyed and he outnumbers me."

"I want you both to come out, and with no weapons!"

"That's not going to happen, child." The voice from the left replied.

She frowned and her eyes began to glow yellow.

"Then I'll destroy the safe house and bury all three of you alive in it."

"Wait, Terra! There has to be another way."

She narrowed her eyes.

"I've already destroyed the support pillars. If something happens to me, everything will cave in, so don't even think of trying to shoot me." She replied as her concrete armor fell away from her body. "On the count of five I want to see you throw your weapons aside."

"One"

"Two"

"Three"

Wintergreen surrendered his weapons and came out of his hiding place, with his hands raised above his head.

"Four"

Both Slades tossed their weapons aside and emerged. Terra stared in disbelief. They looked identical.

"Take off your masks."

Both men complied and Terra gasped. They were 100% identical, down to the dark color of their eye patches.

"This can't be possible. You can't both be Slade!"

"I fully agree." The man on the right replied in his monotone. He then shouted a martial arts yell and attacked his counterpart.

At first the two men appeared to be evenly matched. They parried each other's jabs and kicks and within moments Terra could no longer tell which Slade was which. The fight progressed slowly as the two opponents sized each other out. Neither spoke as they took what were clearly exploratory kicks and punches at each other. The intensity of the battle steadily increased as both Terra and Wintergreen watched. Kicks and punches found their targets and it remained difficult, if not outright impossible to tell the two apart. Occasionally, one of them would score a good hit but neither seemed to have the upper hand. Finally, one of them spoke up.

"Who are you, and what are you doing in my safe house!?"

The other Slade, still unmasked, grinned.

"You're soft; you've lost your edge. You've become one of those deluded fools who wants to conquer the world."

Local Slade wiped some blood away from his mouth. The tide had slowly begun to turn against him. The intruder's boast wasn't hollow, the man could fight. And he was strong, too strong. He reminded Slade of a younger version of himself, one that he might not be able to defeat in hand to hand combat.

"You don't deserve to be called Deathstroke the Terminator!" The intruder shouted as he connected his heel to Slade's temple, sending Terra's master crashing into the ground. Deathstroke leaped upon his prone figure, brandishing a sharp blade.

"This ends now! There can only be one Deathstroke." He shouted as he thrust the blade towards his opponent's throat.

Deathstroke's blow was cut short as his arm was suddenly immobilized. Gasping in surprise he saw that his forearm was trapped in a stone column that had popped out of the ground. As he flailed trying to free himself more stone columns appeared and trapped his other limbs. Looking over his shoulder he saw that Wintergreen was also trapped. Slade picked himself up from the ground.

"Well done apprentice, now let's deal with …"

Before Slade could finish he was also trapped by stone pillars and was immobilized.

"Terra! Release me! That's an order!"

The blond shook her head.

"Not until I know for sure who is the real Slade."

"Child, I already told you, we both are."

"Yeah … right." She said coldly as she approached Deathstroke.

"So … 'Slade' … where were we when I was about to kiss Beast Boy and you stopped me?"

Deathstroke's face did not betray the fact that he did not know the answer.

"It was in Titans Tower." He guessed.

The geomancer turned to face the other Slade.

"Wrong. Do you know?"

"You were in the 'Big Wheel' Ferris wheel in the Jump City amusement park."

Terra waved a hand and released Slade while Deathstroke thrashed. Slade approached his twin and examined him.

"If I take a DNA sample from you, something tells me you will match my own."

Terra approached her master, keeping a wary eye on Deathstroke.

"Slade, what did he mean by 'Deathstroke the Terminator'?"

"That's a chapter from my past. I used to be a mercenary and an assassin for hire. That was a long time ago, and I was known as Deathstroke the Terminator. Eventually I realized that working for others was hardly fulfilling and I … how shall I say it … had a career change."

Terra frowned as she looked back at Deathstroke. The unbridled anger and fury in his eyes made her feel a chill. Slade was intimidating, perhaps the scariest man she ever met … until now.

"Then who is this guy? Are they clones or something?"

Slade carefully regarded his twin.

"No Terra, he isn't a clone. If he was a clone, I would have been able to defeat him easily."

The blond shook her head, clearly bewildered.

"So you're saying that he is you? How is that even possible?"

Slade crossed his arms and smiled. Terra shivered, as she had never before seen her master's face.

"You have heard of parallel universes, haven't you, apprentice?"

Suddenly it all clicked.

"Sure, but why is he here?"

"Isn't it obvious, Terra? Gizmo sent the Titans to his universe. And they must have a bounty on their heads." He turned to Deathstroke. "Am I correct?"

Deathstroke nodded.

"Yes, I had already killed their counterparts in my universe. Then they showed up. It complicated matters. My customer was demanding a refund, plus I have a reputation to keep."

Terra looked aghast.

"You killed the Teen Titans?"

"Yes, geomancer, I did. But without your help, in case you are wondering. In my world you were their friend and not my ally."

She turned back to her master.

"Slade, we have a deal. You can't let him do anything to Beast Boy."

Slade reached for the floor and retrieved his mask, snapping it back into place. He then began to walk around the still immobilized Deathstroke.

"What am I going to do with you? You could be a powerful ally, but how can I possibly trust you?"

"All I want are the Titans heads on a pike. I have no quarrel with you. It was you who fired first, if you recall. If anything, I was trying to avoid you. Once I have their bodies I'll leave."

"I will take your offer into consideration."

Terra nearly jumped out of her boots.

"Slade! You can't be serious! He tried to kill you!"

"Terra, my dear, you know that I always consider all options. But you are right about his treachery. Nevertheless, there are opportunities here that need to be considered."

"So what are we going to do? And you can't be serious about letting him kill Beast Boy!"

"Calm yourself, Terra. We will find a use for our visitor, one that will be profitable to all of us."

"Slade, I don't know about this."

"It doesn't matter how you feel. Prepare to transport our prisoners back to our lair."

_**-( scene break )-**_

On the far side of town, a portal opened. It was in a dark alley which was obscured during the moonless night. A single figure emerged from it and quickly vanished into the shadows.

_**-( scene break )-**_

I hope that wasn't too anti-climatic. Who would have thought that Terra would save Slade? Maybe she was even more afraid of Deathstroke?


	15. Chapter 15

The festivities in the Tower continued after the celebratory dinner was over. They moved to the crescent shaped couch area, where Alfred was serving Dom Perignon champagne and cake. Beast Boy and Raven were sitting on the couch, eating their cake, which the changeling did with great zest.

"Rave … this is the best cake in the history of cake." He remarked between mouthfuls. "Trust me, I know cake."

"Gar, don't make a pig of yourself ..."

He did a double take. "Did you just call me by my real name?"

"Of course she did. You don't expect your girlfriend to call you by your hero name, do you?" Babs grinned as she gestured at the couch. "Mind if I join you?"

"Please do." Raven replied in her deadpan.

Batgirl sat down next to Raven. "We've never had a chance to get to know each other … I have seen you guys on the news. You Titans do kick some serious butt."

"Robin has told us a great deal about you." Raven replied. "You are a legendary superhero in your own right."

"Cyborg says that you were Dick's first girlfriend, before he met Star." The changeling interjected. Raven gave him a mild elbow in the ribs. Babs laughed.

"Nah, there was never anything official between us … we had crushes on each other, but that's it." She giggled after she spoke.

"Is something funny?" Raven asked.

Barbara shook her head. "I'm sorry, but I only found out today that you guys are dating. Dick told me, he said that you guys were the old married couple in the Tower."

Raven and Beast Boy heaved a collective groan.

"Dude, we only became official today."

"Whoa! So you guys are still on your honeymoon."

"Could we stop using marriage metaphors, please?" Raven complained. "To speak that way is completely premature at this point."

Babs smiled. "Oh, I see … you guys still are still newbies."

"Newbies?" Raven asked.

"Yeah, you know, you still haven't … you know? Right?"

"What are you talking about?" Raven asked in a suddenly dangerous tone.

"Uh, how old are you guys?"

"I'm 18 and Rave just turned 19. Why are you asking … ohh!" The changeling blushed.

Raven had a cross look on her face. "Miss Gordon, that is none of your business."

"Sorry." Babs raised her hands in an apologetic gesture. "It's just that everyone has been wondering about you guys for some time now."

"Everyone? Just who is everyone?"

Babs began to count using her fingers.

"Let's see … every honorary Titan I've met, Bumblebee, Speedy, Aqualad … and by the way Raven, he has a major crush on you …"

"What?" The changeling shrieked. "Who else has a crush on Raven?"

"I thought you'd never ask … let's see, there's Hot Spot, Red Star …"

"That will be enough, Miss Gordon." Raven interrupted.

Beast Boy snorted unhappily. "At least the Justice League isn't gossiping about us."

"Well, actually they are."

"Azar help us." Raven face palmed. "Can this get any worse?"

"Some people are wondering when you guys are gonna tie the knot."

"Dude, we just started to date."

Raven rose from her seat. "Please excuse us Miss Gordon, but I think we are done here for the evening."

Without being asked the changeling left the common room with his girlfriend. Babs crossed her arms and smiled as Robin joined her.

"You're right, they are an old married couple." She snickered.

"I give them six months, tops." He replied.

"Before they break up? No way. They're made for each other."

"Not break up." He chuckled. "Until they share the same room. But I wouldn't be surprised if they tie the knot before then. They been in denial forever, but now that they've outed themselves I expect things to move fast."

"Aren't you the clever detective?" Babs grinned.

"I had the best teacher in the world." He smiled at her.

_**-( - )-**_

The Chromatically Challenged Couple™ stopped in front of Raven's door.

"Good night, Rave." He said as he puckered up for a good night kiss.

She didn't kiss him. Her door slid open and she walked into her room. With a dejected look on his face he sulked in the hallway. Raven turned around and looked at him.

"Are you coming in or not?"

A smile appeared on his face as he trotted into her room. Raven sat down on the edge of her bed and gestured him to join her. As soon as he sat down she said the four dreadful words.

"We need to talk."

A deer in the headlights look appeared on his face. Off, somewhere in the distance, a coyote howled. She rolled her eyes.

"Will you please relax? I'm not gonna dump you."

He still looked startled. She made a mental note to never use that phrase ever again.

"Gar, we need to discuss where we want to go in our relationship."

He gurgled. "What do you mean? What's wrong with where we are now."

Raven stood up, crossed her arms and paced around the room. She fidgeted with her fingers as she walked. "There's nothing wrong with where we are now; but you don't expect us to not move forward, right?"

"Uh … I suppose … uh, Rave … where exactly are we moving … forward?"

She stopped and glared at him.

"Azar, you are clueless … I'm talking about sex."

He smiled nervously and tugged at his collar. "Uh … OK … I mean, we're just starting out, but if you want sex ..."

She frowned. "That's not what I'm saying. What I'm saying is that we will eventually reach that point in our relationship and I think we need to be aware of that and discuss it so when the time comes we're both ready there won't be any misunderstandings."

A befuddled look appeared on his face.

"Uh, that sounds really complicated … how about you just tell me when you're ready? Whenever that is, I'll be ready."

She sighed. "Gar, when we reach that point I want that experience to be more than mere animalistic copulation … I want it to be a meeting of our souls."

"You do? Really? That sounds kind of … spiritual."

"It's supposed to be spiritual, dummy. We're soul mates."

"But … what about … you know … the fireworks?"

She face palmed. "What is it with guys? Don't worry about the orgasms; I'm sure we'll have those too. But think about it Gar, it will be so much better if we share our souls and not just our bodies with each other."

"It will?"

She sat down next to him and leaned over, until they were face to face. "It will be mind blowing. I'm going to rock your world."

He gulped. "You will … I mean … cool … but Rave, how do you know all this stuff? I mean, I don't know squat about sex except for the stuff in the sex ed book Cyborg keeps in his room."

"I've read better books than that one."

"You mean you've read that book?"

"Everyone's read it." She walked to her bookcase where she pulled out a book and gave it to him. "This is one is better, much better."

He opened it and his eyes widened. "Raven! This book has pictures of couples doing it."

She sighed. "Gar, it isn't porn, it's an educational textbook. If you actually read it, you'll see that it spends more time covering the spiritual side of sex than the mechanics of it."

He looked back at the book. His eyes zeroed in on a caption below the picture of a copulating couple. "Missionary Position? You mean there are names for … the moves?" He flipped the pages, staring wide eyed at the pages contents. "Uh Rave, why are you giving this book to me?"

She gave him one of her tiny smiles. "Because when the day comes, and I don't know when that will be, I want us to be ready and comfortable, I want it to be memorable."

"You do?"

"Of course I do. You haven't forgotten that I'm half demon have you?"

He again tugged at his shirt collar. "Uh … no … of course not." He gulped.

Raven wrapped her arms around him and gave him a kiss that made his knees buckle. After that she led him to the door.

"Good night, Gar, sleep well."

As soon as he got back to his room, he took a cold shower.

_**-( - )-**_

Slade stared at the interdimensional interlopers, who were still stuck in Terra's trap. The geomancer stood guard with her arms crossed. She glared at Deathstroke.

"What are you looking at?"

"You killed BB." Her voice dripped with venom.

"Your Beast Boy is alive and kicking back at Titans Tower."

"But you want to kill him too."

"He shot me in the back, like the coward that he is."

Terra bristled at the accusation. "You're lying! BB hates guns!"

Deathstroke smiled at the geomorph, and she felt a shiver run down her spine.

"I don't think so, Markov. Or maybe he loves Raven enough to overcome his aversion to firearms."

"What are you talking about?"

He tugged at his stone bonds, but they didn't budge. He turned his face back towards her.

"I was in the process of eviscerating Raven when he shot me with my own pistol. Fortunately for me his aim was poor and he missed my heart."

"Interesting." Slade interjected. "I take it that you failed to complete your task, am I right, assassin?"

Deathstroke frowned at his twin. "I did. My spies informed me that Raven survived my attack, thanks to the skilled surgeons in the Watchtower."

"Too bad." Terra muttered sotto voce. "That bitch just won't die."

Deathstroke addressed his twin. "You know that you gain nothing by keeping me trapped like this."

Slade approached his twin, until they were face to face.

"Humor me."

"Like I said before, I have no bone to pick with you. And we aren't in competition, I'm a bounty hunter, you're a conqueror. But we can help each other."

"I'm listening …"

Deathstroke grinned. "Good, I can see that there is still plenty of me in you …"

"More than you can imagine … make your pitch, Deathstroke, and make it good because you're only getting one chance."

Deathstroke looked into Slade's masked face and smiled.

"You want to take over this quaint city, but the Titans have always been a thorn in your side. They haven't been able to stop you and you haven't been able to eradicate them. In other words, you've been stuck in a stalemate with them for years … am I right?"

Slade didn't reply and instead he paced around the room with his arms folded behind his back.

"You know I'm right, Slade, there is no point in denying it."

Slade did something that Terra never saw him do before: he sighed.

"Yes, Deathstroke, you are quite correct."

"I can tip the scales in your favor … let me kill them, Slade. Once I accomplish that I'll go home, and take their bodies with me. I'll regain my honor back where I come from and you will be able to conquer Jump City without any opposition. It's a win-win for both of us."

Slade stepped away from his twin while he stroked his chin. "Your offer is intriguing."

"Slade! What the frak!? He wants to kill BB!" Terra screamed at the top of her lungs.

Deathstroke frowned. "Don't tell me that you allow your apprentice to talk to you like that?"

"I made a promise to her, and I always keep my word. Do you?"

Terra appeared to relax upon hearing his words. Deathstroke pursed his lips.

"Fine, I'll spare the green boy, but if you ask me, Slade, you're making a mistake. So, do we have a deal?"

Slade nodded. "We do … Terra, release them."

"Slade, are you sure about this?"

"I am. Release them."

Terra approached Deathstroke and shoved her face into his. He didn't flinch and she could feel his breathe on her face.

"If you lay even a single finger on BB, you're a dead man."

"I gave Slade my word. If it's good enough for him, then it should be good enough for you."

Terra bit her lower lip, but remained still.

"Terra, he gave his word. Release them, now."

She heaved a huge sigh and made a simple gesture. The stone that trapped Deathstroke and his companion turned into sand and crumbled away. Wintergreen rubbed his wrists, which looked red and had been bleeding, but did not complain. Deathstroke picked up his mask and placed it on his face.

"I'm going to need any information you can provide me on the Titans. I know that some of them have different powers in this dimension."

Slade reached into his utility belt and pulled out a flash drive, which he tossed at Deathstroke.

"Everything you need is in there. You can stay here. While this level was nearly destroyed the lower levels should still be intact. There is a commlink and computer on level 3. Contact me once you have a plan ready." He turned to Terra. "Let's go."

_**-( - )-**_

_The next Saturday morning …_

Cyborg was pacing around the common room, while Raven and Beast Boy ate their breakfasts.

"Dude, will you stop that!?"

The Tin Man stopped in his tracks. "Stop what?"

Raven sent a mild glare in his direction. "You're obsessing and I don't understand why. You're just going to make a public appearance at a school. You've done this countless times. What in Azar's name are you fretting about?"

"Raven's right, Chrome Dome. What's going on?"

Cyborg heaved a huge sigh. "You guys remember that woman who came to see me off before we came back to our dimension?"

"Do I remember her?" Gar grinned from ear to ear. "She was smoking hot!"

Raven elbowed him in the ribs. He reciprocated with an uncharacteristic glare of his own. "Hey, it's not my fault she was a babe? What am I supposed to do? Not notice her?"

Raven ignored his rebuke and focused her attention on Cyborg.

"Victor, this woman, she's the local Sarah Simms, am I right? And you're worried about making an impression on her?"

He dropped his head. "Is it that obvious?"

"Painfully so … you know that fretting is pointless?"

He gave her a cross look. "You know, Raven, I thought that if anyone would understand, it would be you."

"I do understand, which is why Gar and I are coming with you."

"You are?"

The changeling grinned. "Don't worry chrome dome, the green love doctor will be your wingman."

Raven elbowed her boyfriend, and he gave her another cross look, which again she ignored.

"What Gar meant is that we will be there to give you moral support."

Cyborg grinned. "Thanks guys, that means a lot to me."

"You do realize that she might be a completely different person than in the other dimension."

His demeanor became more somber. "I know, why would she fall for a robot?"

"I didn't say that." She replied. "All I'm saying is don't go in with any preconceived expectations."

He sighed. "I know, it's just … I mean … look at me, who would …"

"Don't sell yourself short, Vic." His green friend chimed in.

"Thanks man, you are my best bud."

The clock in the common room chimed. "And it's time to go."

_**-( - )-**_

Deathstroke stared at the computer monitor in the safe house's library, reading the online version of the Jump City Journal. As with most newspapers, it was full of trivial local news, but he knew that buried in those stories there would be nuggets of useful information, and he had just found one. He pulled out his communicator and tapped on the call button.

"Wintergreen, where are you?"

"I'm on the main level, still sifting through the wreckage. These robots are intriguing."

"Forget about them and come down here. I found something interesting."

"On my way."

Wintergreen was in the library within a minute. He looked curious and approached his master.

"Lady luck has smiled upon us, my friend. According to this article Cyborg will be making a solo appearance at this school later this morning. We should be able to take him down."

"I see. But won't that warn the Titans that we are after them?

Deathstroke wasn't wearing his mask and he grinned. "They don't know we are here. They will think this is Slade's doing and will go after him. They will be furious and will be seeking revenge for Cyborg's death. While they seek Slade, we will mislead them and separate them. We'll pick them off one by one."

"And our deal with Slade?"

"It's null and void."

"I see. So, after we collect our bounties and go home, Slade will have nothing to complain about."

Deathstroke shook his head. "We aren't going back my friend. Our reputation back home has been permanently tarnished, there is nothing to go back to reclaim. We are staying here."

Wintergreen frowned. "And what about Slade?"

Deathstroke chuckled. "Slade is going to be replaced with a superior upgrade."

_**-( - )-**_

Terra was once again spying on the Tower, and she wasn't happy with what she had seen. The day before her Beast Boy and the Witch were fooling around, playing with a Frisbee before they took off on a date. She followed them from a distance and didn't like what she saw. But the next day was even worse. Using a telescope she saw them kiss in the common room when they thought they were alone, and not just kiss, but a full blown makeout smoochfest. A day after seeing that her blood was still boiling and she was so out of sorts that she didn't hear the intruder approach her hiding place in a rocky cove across the bay from the Tower.

"We need to talk, Terra."

The blond almost leaped out of her skin. He eyes glowed yellow and she clenched her teeth, ready to fight whoever just snuck up on her. When she saw who it was, her face fell.

"Who the hell are you?" She stammered.

A flat boulder levitated in front of her. While that was unexpected, its occupant was even more unexpected.

"Who do you think I am? I'm you!"

"But that's impossible." She groaned as she stared at her doppelganger. Her eyes widened as the realization sank in. "You … you're with Deathstroke!"

The intruder's eyes narrowed. "I am not with him!"

"Then … why are you here?"

"I came to stop him."

"Stop him? Stop him from what?"

The doppelganger glared at her.

"He's going to kill Gar, you idiot!"

_**-( - )-**_

Raven seems to be in a hurry, but she's not. She's just being her usual actual/factual self. And yeah, she does have the hots for her new boyfriend, but the only thing BB can look forward to, at least in the meantime, are more cold showers.


	16. Chapter 16

It was a cloudy morning and a light drizzle was falling. A large banner, sagging as it was now soaked, boldly welcomed everyone to the Annual Conrad Ball School Fair. Another drenched banner had Cyborg's beaming face painted on it, and welcomed him as a special guest.

A Kroger supermarket was across the street from the school and being a Saturday morning it was bustling with shoppers, who were all too focused on their lists to notice that there were two sinister figures on the store's roof, hidden behind a large air conditioning unit. The taller of the two figures was spying on the school with a small, collapsible telescope. Even though the weather was inclement there was a steady flow of people coming to the event, which had to be moved indoors into the school's gym. There was also a TV News crew, which was unloading their equipment from their van. There were also three police squad cars present and the officers were directing traffic into the parking lot.

Deathstroke collapsed his spyglass shut and stored it in his utility belt.

"This is going to complicate matters." Wintergreen muttered.

"It won't be a problem. We still have the element of surprise. And it being indoors will just make the panic even greater, which will be to our advantage. The police won't be a problem either." He replied as he loaded an oversized clip into his custom sniper rifle, with its built in silencer.

The T-Car pulled up into the school's parking lot. A police officer walked up to the car, greeted the driver and pointed at a reserved parking space. Cyborg parked his "baby" and Deathstroke frowned when he saw the Chromatically Challenged Couple™ emerge from the car. They, along with Cyborg, were protected from the elements by one of Raven's dark shields. Deathstroke aimed his rifle, but immediately lowered his gun, knowing that they were protected by Raven's dark energy, which was bulletproof accord to the dossiers Slade gave them.

Wintergreen was watching through a tiny pair of binoculars and growled his displeasure. "Shall we abort the mission?"

Deathstroke shook his head. "No, we won't. We have new targets: The witch and the changeling. It will be a decisive blow. The Titans will be furious, and if we are lucky we might also take Cyborg down as well."

"So what is the plan?"

"We wait for the event to begin. I will call in a fake robbery a few blocks away. Some of the police across the street will respond to the call. Those that remain behind, we'll pick them off and move into the auditorium. We'll set up in the rafters and pick them off from there. I'll take the witch, you take the changeling. I want clean shots to their heads; a single well placed shot should do it. Then we focus on Cyborg. If we do this right we'll get him before he even knows what happened to his friends."

Wintergreen nodded and also loaded a large clip into his custom weapon.

"Today is going to be a good day, Wilson."

"Yes, my friend, we will have our revenge."

The two men hunkered down and watched the school. The parking lot slowly filled up and parents took their children inside, all of whom wore some kind of bionic prosthetic and were all beaming with excitement at the prospect of meeting their favorite Titan.

"I feel bad for the children, Wilson."

"If we do our job right nothing will happen to them. Yes, they will be disappointed that their idol will be dead, but as we both know, life is full of disappointments."

"I know, Wilson. I still cannot fathom why Adeline left you."

"She is in the past. We are in the present and we have a job to do."

The two men waited patiently, until it was now 9:30. The late stragglers had all arrived and the police officers were idly chatting with each other, waiting for the event to conclude. Deathstroke pulled out a mobile phone, dialed 911 and reported a robbery in progress at a convenience store a few blocks away. As expected, within seconds two of the police cruisers left the school with their lightbars flashing. Only a single car stayed behind. There were now just two officers, in their rain gear, left behind to supervise the parking lot.

Deathstroke raised his rifle and Wintergreen did the same.

"I'll take the one on the left."

_**-( - )-**_

The auditorium was brightly lit and the three heroes instinctively checked out the rafters above, which were empty. Raven frowned and took a second look.

"Something wrong, babe?" Her beau asked her.

She glared at him. "Don't call me that, especially not in public."

"Ok … sorry … but something's wrong, I can tell."

She shook her head. "It's nothing, I just sensed that something's wrong. It could be anything. There are so many people in this room. It's a jungle of emotions."

He locked eyes with her. "Hey, if you sensed something, I would worry too."

"Do you smell or sense anything?"

"Too many people … we should keep our eyes open."

"Agreed." She replied.

Cyborg noticed them whispering to each other and assumed they were merely exchanging sweet nothings. He was about to tease them when Sarah ran up to greet them. He immediately forgot about the Chromatically Challenged Couple™ and focused on the blond schoolteacher. A grin appeared on his face as the shapely woman extended her hand to him.

"Nice to meet you, little lady."

The young woman began to blush. Beast Boy grinned like an idiot and wagged his eyebrows at Raven, who rolled her eyes in response. Cyborg introduced her to his teammates.

"Nice to meet you, Sarah." Raven greeted her with a handshake and the changeling followed suit.

"I can't believe you guys all came."

"The Titans are and have always been supporters of education. We are honored to be here." Raven added in her monotone.

Sarah didn't appear to hear Raven's remark as she was captivated by Cyborg. Beast Boy wagged his eyebrows at Raven a second time and she mildly elbowed him in the ribs.

Sarah introduced them to the school faculty and then to a few of her own pupils, all of whom had at least one bionic prosthetic. One of her students was a twelve year old girl who had lost all her limbs and like the Tin Man she had bionic arms and legs, which where flesh colored.

"Well hello there little lady! What's your name?"

"I'm Tammy."

"Those are some might fine prosthetics you have there. Star Labs Ultrium Series, right?"

She nodded her affirmation.

"In a lot of ways those are better than mine." He added. "They're the latest and greatest."

"They're not as strong as yours." She piped up.

"You'd like stronger ones? The Ultriums are pretty strong, I mean you could arm wrestle with Hulk Hogan and win with those babies."

"I know … but …" She hesitated.

"What is it?" He asked.

"I'd like to be a Titan someday, but these prosthetics aren't strong enough." She blurted out.

"There's more to being a Titan than being strong or having superpowers." Raven interjected. "The most important power you have resides between your two ears."

"It also helps to be smart." The changeling chuckled.

"That's what I said, Beast Boy." She replied in a stern voice. He continued to snicker.

Raven rolled her eyes. "You'll have to forgive Beast Boy, he thinks he's funny."

Tammy began to giggle. "He is funny. Don't you think he's funny, Miss Raven? I mean, he is your boyfriend."

The sorceress's face fell. "How did you know that?"

"Everyone knows … it's in the papers."

Raven face palmed, but quickly recovered her equanimity. "Are you sure you want to be a superhero? As you can see, we have no privacy in our personal lives."

Tammy appeared to not hear Raven. "You guys are a cute couple."

"That will be enough." Sarah reprimanded her pupil. "How about you go help Mr. Drago greet our other guests?"

Tammy smiled at the clearly self conscious demoness before dashing off.

"I apologize; sometimes kids have problems with boundaries." She paused and noticed that Cyborg was smiling at her. "Did I say something funny?"

He shook his head. "Nah, you didn't. You just remind me of someone."

"I do? Is it someone I know?"

Cyborg nervously rubbed the back of his neck. "You do … but you don't."

She cocked her head. "I … what?"

"It's a long story, and I'd like to tell you about it later." He stammered.

"You will? When?" Her eyes trembled.

He glanced at the changeling, who mouthed the words "Go for it."

Cyborg cleared his throat while he rubbed that back of his neck. "Um … I … uh … I was thinking I could tell you during a date … I mean, if that's something you'd …"

"YES!" She interrupted.

"You mean you will go out on a date with me?"

She rapidly nodded her head. Raven took the changeling's hand. "Beast Boy and I will go mingle with the crowd."

"But you hate mingling." The green Titan interjected. She responded with a glare.

"But I love to mingle." He quickly backpedalled.

"Like I said, we will go mingle while you introduce Cyborg to the faculty." Raven added just before she dragged her boyfriend away.

"Some wingman you are." She muttered under her breath.

"Hey, I was about to suggest we get something to drink. I know you wanted to leave them alone."

"Sure you did."

_**-( - )-**_

The gym was now full and bustling. It was noisy and no one heard one of the skylights above pop open, not even the changeling's sensitive ears heard the sound. It was a fairly large skylight and once the clear dome was removed it provided a commanding view of the gym below. Using hand gestures Deathstroke pointed out their targets. Cyborg was standing next to Sarah on a makeshift stage, shuffling some papers, no doubt a speech he had prepared for the event. Raven and Beast Boy were at the other end of the gym, where the changeling was stuffing his face at the snack table, oblivious to his surroundings. Raven was sipping on a can of diet cola, focusing on the stage.

The two police officers were dead and had been tossed into their squad cars. Deathstroke made more military hand gestures, indicating that Raven was his target and Beast Boy belonged to his companion. Wintergreen nodded and raised his sniper rifle.

Deathstroke looked through his scope, adjusting his aim until Raven's head was in his crosshairs. Wintergreen did the same with the changeling. They would fire at the same time. Cyborg, who according to his dossier was a notoriously poor and nervous public speaker, wouldn't notice their demise before being shot himself.

Deathstroke was about to give the signal to fire when Raven suddenly moved. She frowned as she looked around the room. He held his breath, if she saw that the skylight had been opened their cover would be blown. She did not look in their direction and after a prolonged look she refocused on Cyborg's speech and resumed sipping her soft drink.

Deathstroke refocused his aim on Raven. Unlike her idiot boyfriend she would stand still as a statue and made for an easy target. He would take her down with a single shot; the hollow point bullet would blow her brains out, killing her instantly.

"Ready?"

"Ready." Wintergreen replied.

"On my mark."

Deathstroke paused for a moment. His trigger finger tensed up. "Now"

The two men pulled their triggers. The silencers did their jobs as there was no gun report, just a dull 'thwap' sound that was drowned out by the ambient noise in the gym. But as they pulled their triggers they saw something unexpected. Both Raven and the changeling were tackled to the ground, while the concrete floor peeled up, forming barriers that absorbed the bullets harmlessly away while shielding the intended targets from further shots.

"Abort!" Deathstroke shouted as he and his companion made their getaway.

Raven hit the ground hard and bumped her head. She briefly saw stars and when her vision cleared she saw Terra's angry face as he was on top of her. Using her powers she shoved the geomancer away.

"Terra!" Raven seethed. "Have you no shame? Attacking us at a school event?"

Terra became red faced. "Attacking you? You stupid idiot! I just saved your life!"

"What are you talking about?"

"Deathstroke was about to kill you and Gar. I just saved your sorry gray ass."

Raven's eyes widened in horror. She said Deathstroke, not Slade. "Garfield!" She shouted.

"I'm OK, Rave." His voice shouted from behind the impromptu concrete barrier.

Shoving Terra aside she ran towards the sound of his voice.

"You're welcome." Terra snorted.

As Raven approached the barrier Beast Boy appeared … with Terra at his side. She screeched to a halt, slack jawed as she stared at the girl. She looked back and saw the Terra who saved her. Beast Boy saw Raven's Terra and also became slacked jawed.

"Dude!"

Raven regained her composure. "OK, which one of you is the visitor?"

"I am." The first Terra replied.

By this point Cyborg had run down from the stage and joined them. He immediately saw the trapped bullets and extracted one from the concrete with his metal fingers.

"Guys, this isn't good … whoa … am I seeing double?"

"Looks like someone followed us back home from the other universe."

Two police officers burst into the gym and approached the Titans. They both had ashen expressions on their faces.

"We need to evacuate everyone now. There's a sniper on the loose." The Sergeant announced.

"You're too late, he was already here." Raven droned.

"Where there any other deaths?" The officer asked.

"Other deaths?" Beast Boy gasped.

The officer sighed. "Four of us where drawn away by a fake robbery call. When we got back I found two of my officers dead in their squad car … shot in their heads. Whoever did this is a pro. We need to get everyone out of here."

Raven turned to her companions. "Secure the area. I'll escort people to their cars using my force field."

_**-( - )-**_

Two lone figures, perched in a water tower almost a mile away, watched as the school was evacuated. Deathstroke cursed as he slammed his telescope shut.

"What is it, Wilson?"

"It's Terra."

Wintergreen growled. "I knew she would interfere."

"It's worse than that, my friend. There're two of them."

"Two? Do you mean …"

"Yes, the Terra from our universe somehow was able to follow us here."

Wintergreen pursed his lips. "That is unfortunate. The Titans are on to us and they have new friends. So what do we do now?"

"We make friends of our own, but there is something we have to take care of first, and we don't have much time."

_**-( - )-**_

Local Terra tugged at the power cancellation collar around her neck. The two women were identical, except that the local Terra had a small tattoo of Beast Boy's face on her thigh. She turned to face Robin with an angry look on her face.

"You gotta be frakking kidding me! We just saved their lives and you're making us wear these?"

Visiting Terra didn't seem so upset with the collar and instead she explored the common room.

"My Tower, my rules."

Sarah was in the kitchen with Cyborg, helping him prepare lunch.

"I'm sorry I had to bring you here, Miss Simms. But it's the only way to keep you safe for now."

Sarah stared back and forth between the two Terras. "It's OK, I don't mind … I didn't know they were twins."

"They ain't twins."

"They're not? But they're identical. Is one of them a clone?"

He shook his head. "Nope."

"I don't understand."

He sighed. "She's from another dimension."

"You mean like a parallel universe?"

"Exactly. And I've been there. I … met you in that universe."

Sarah became pale. "You're kidding me."

"I wish. In that Universe Slade murdered our counterparts."

"That's horrible." She stammered.

"Tell me about it. Anyway … no,I shouldn't tell you anymore."

"More what?"

He shook his head. "No, it's wrong."

She cupped his face with her palm. "I can tell that whatever it is, it's important. Please tell me."

He gave her a puzzled look. "Why do you want to know?"

She shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know. For some reason, if it's important to you, then it's important to me."

He sighed. "OK, I'll tell you, but for the record, this doesn't mean that I have any expectations, OK?"

"OK."

His body language betrayed the unease his was feeling.

"In the other universe our counterparts were lovers. I only learned that before I came back. The other Sarah, she wanted to come back with me … for some reason, even though she was a stranger to me … I wanted to say yes. I know it makes no sense at all …"

"It makes perfect sense … Victor …"

"Whoa! How do you know my real name?"

She blushed. "I learned it in a dream."

His eyes widened. "A dream? Was it a dream where you were a warrior in antiquity?"

She nodded. "Yes, how did you know?"

"And your name was Sarasim?"

"Yes! Victor, how …"

"It wasn't a dream for me. I was there."

"You mean I was there too?"

He shook his head. "No, you weren't. You aren't Sarasim, but you are a descendent of hers. Raven can explain it better than I can."

She blushed deeply. "Victor, I don't know how to say this … it's going to sound crazy."

"Hey, after everything I've seen in my years as a Titan, nothing surprises me anymore. Go ahead and shoot."

She swallowed before continuing. "I know this sounds crazy, but ever since I had those dreams I've felt like I know you, like I really know you."

His only response was to pull her into a kiss. She melted into his embrace but he surprised her and pulled away.

"I'm sorry, that was uncalled for." He murmured.

She pulled him back into another kiss. Raven and Beast Boy had witnessed the event. The changeling was about to shout "boo-yah" when his mouth was covered by dark energy.

"They're having a moment, don't ruin it."

Back in the common room local Terra was still pouting and was joined by her twin.

"What do you want from me, Robin?"

The Boy Wonder gestured to Raven, who nodded before gently approaching Cyborg and Sarah and asking them to join them in the common room. Once everyone was assembled on the circular couch Robin addressed them.

"We now know that Deathstroke has followed us back here and from what Terra has told us he looks just like Slade."

Before he could continue there was an incoming call. Robin glanced at the console.

"I don't believe this." The boy wonder groaned before accepting the call. Slade's face appeared on the screen.

"Greetings, Titans. I want you to know that I had nothing to do with what happened today."

Robin crossed his arms. "You're lying. Terra says that you made a deal with Deathstroke."

"The deal is off. He is now operating independently of me."

"You aren't calling just to let us know you're innocent. What do you really want?" Raven snarled at him.

"As always, Raven, you get to the point. And the point is that I no longer trust Deathstroke, and I suspect that I am just as much of a target of his as you are."

"Let me get this straight, Slade. Are you proposing an alliance with us?" Robin interjected.

"That is correct, my former apprentice. And don't act so shocked. Desperate times call for desperate measures. We've worked together before and believe me; you don't want him to replace me."

Slade leaned into the camera. "Admit it, you're afraid of him."

"So are you." Beast Boy remarked.

"All the more reason to work together. So, Robin, what do you say? Shall we be partners again?"

Robin scowled at the screen. "I was never your partner, or your apprentice."

"Stop posturing, young man. We have a big problem to solve, will you work with me or not?"

Robin turned to look at his teammates. They each subtly nodded their agreement. He then looked at the Terras.

"Are you in?"

Visiting Terra looked indignant. "Am I in? The only reason I came here was to protect Gar. Of course I'm in!"

He turned to face local Terra. "What about you?"

She sighed. "I know that I double crossed you guys a long time ago, but you also know that I love BB more than anything, and even if Raven is his girlfriend now, I'm not gonna let that psycho hurt him. So yeah, I'm in."

Robin turned back to face the screen. "You know that this will change nothing between us."

"As I told you last time you said that, I would expect nothing less from you."

_**-( - )-**_

An alliance with Slade? Should the Titans watch their backs?

And now, I am bringing back a neglected tradition: the mail bag!

ThisIsWheretheNameGoes – And it will get even more tangled.

TheHiddenBeast – Sorry, I couldn't get this done for your birthday.

Randamwriter – Thanks, your kind words are appreciated.

JasonVUK - You never know when the Beast will make an appearance.

theLovelykitten – I am of the male persuasion

Blue22 – Of course I read the reviews. So few readers bother to review that each one is always appreciated. A shout out to TheHiddenBeast

Guest – Yes! The mailbag is back.

TheHiddenBeast – Thank you for your kinds words. Virtual cookies have no calories! Good for the waistline.

Shadowyshadow – Keep in mind that Deathstroke in this story is only partially based on the comics.

FF8cerberus – Terra was a strong candidate. Raven had better watch her back, there's two Terras now and they both want BB for themselves.

Oro Rosa – It should start becoming clearer, I hope.

Jimmy1201 – Never trust Slade

krostovikraven1 – Slade isn't a fool, and right now he's scared.

Ripto22475 – I don't think Raven really believes that, she was just frustrated with BB being obtuse at the moment.

Hairul The Nightrage Beast – While she was teasing him a bit, she was also being very serious.

DeeThom – And now we have two wild cards, neither which is too pleased with BB having a girlfriend.

titanfan45 – As my daughter once remarked to Khary Peyton at Comic Con, Cyborg doesn't get any love, so I figured "It's about time."

Thebookthief18 – I love to torture readers.

A-LionGleek – I will focus more on the Terras in the next chapters.

Jason9000 – Double the trouble. Raven is going to have her hands full of jealous Geomancers.


	17. Chapter 17

Beast Boy looked skeptically at Slade's masked face. "So what's the next step?" He asked.

Slade crossed his arms. "We meet, face to face. Meeting electronically is too risky. Even if we use a secure channel he will eventually crack our encryption codes."

"And where are we supposed to meet?" Raven asked. "In one of your hideouts so you can pull a double cross and trap us?"

"All of my lairs have been compromised, except for one. Not even Terra knows its location, and I'm not going to reveal it to you, my dear Titans."

Robin stepped forward. Raven could see a vein mildly throb on his forehead. "So where do you expect us to meet?"

Slade chuckled. "Where else, Robin? In your house. It's the most secure place in the city. Not even Deathstroke could breach it."

The Boy Wonder frowned his displeasure.

"Forget it, Slade; we're not letting you inside here. That's never going to happen." Raven snorted.

Slade's single eye twinkled with amusement. "Why not, you've let Terra back in, both of them in fact. You trust them, so why won't you trust me?"

Local Terra stepped forward, into the foreground. She had a scowl on her face. "Does this look like they trust us?" She hissed while she tugged on her power cancellation collar. "My powers are blocked! I feel naked, and not in the fun kind of way."

A small snicker escaped Beast Boy's lips. Raven elbowed him, whispering to him. "Don't even think of it, and don't forget, I'm an empath, I know when you're having erotic thoughts."

"How do you know they aren't about you?" He whispered back as a small smile appeared on his lips.

"They'd better be for me … wait … what am I saying? I just gave you permission to feel lust for me." She continued to whisper.

"Permission? I'd say that you just demanded that I …"

"Garfield … shut up."

Robin paced around the room. "Raven's right, there's no way I'm letting you inside the Tower. We need to meet on neutral ground."

"I knew you would say that." Slade replied with a hint of irritation in his voice. "Very well, let's meet at midnight in the old library, what's left of it, downtown."

For some reason the city had never got around to demolishing the old library or filling in the pit where the remains of the circular staircase that led to Trigon's altar once were. It was surrounded by a chain link fence and razor wire. The fence had many ominous signs warning of unstable subsoils and other dangers. The place had a strange, dreadful ominous feel to it and there were never any trespassers because of that. Slade was right; it would be an ideal place to meet, quiet and private, away from prying eyes. Robin scratched his chin as he pondered the proposed meeting place. He glanced at his teammates, who all subtly nodded their heads.

"Agreed, we'll meet there at midnight."

"At midnight, at the old reference desk. And Robin?"

"Yes?"

"Watch your back, Deathstroke is not to be trifled with."

"I know."

The screen went blank and the Titans logo appeared on it as the call ended. Robin looked at the clock on the wall, which indicated that it was now 4 PM.

"OK, team here's the plan: we have lunch and then we rest. Nap if you can. I want everyone as sharp as possible tonight, there's no knowing what might happen and I don't trust Slade, even if Deathstroke is after him too." The Boy Wonder announced in his most authoritative voice.

_**-( - )-**_

Lunch was now over and as ordered everyone was off to their rooms for some quirt time. Raven and Beast Boy finished their lunches first and promptly left. They walked quietly down the hallway until they stopped in front of her room. She placed her palm on the hand reader and her door slid open. She walked in, followed by the changeling. To his immense surprise she blocked his entry with her dark energy.

"Sorry, Garfield; Robin ordered us to rest and after everything that's happened today I really do need some time to meditate and I can't do that when you're around."

"I can be quiet, you know me, I can sleep on command. I promise I won't bug you."

She pursed her lips. "I know, but your mere presence will be too distracting. I'm sorry, Gar."

His ears drooped but he didn't protest. "I understand."

"Thank you, Gar. I really do appreciate your understanding this. I'll make it up to you later, I promise."

She dropped her shield and gave him a chaste kiss on the lips, after which her door slid shut. She walked into the center of her room and with a flick of her wrist she lit several candles, which bathed her otherwise dark and foreboding room in their warm amber glow.

Raven sat down on her bed, in the lotus position and began to softly chant her mantra, barely louder than a whisper. Her muscles relaxed and her heart rate slowed. Slowly, the room faded away and she was surrounded by the cosmos as she continued to whisper her mantra. She began to move between the various meditative states, and was approaching the state of full detachment when she heard a loud knock on her door.

Her plane of meditation quickly unraveled and she opened her eyes. There was another, louder knock. She unfolded her legs as she glided to the door, landing on her carpeted floor as softly as a feather. Her expression was cross.

"I thought you were going to leave me alone." She grumbled to herself as she pushed the open button and the door slid open. She was ready to chastise her boyfriend for coming back when much to her surprise she found two angry looking twin blonds glaring at her through the open door. She sighed internally; it was bad enough when there was one Terra in the Tower. Now there were two of them.

Without being invited they pushed their way into her room. The visitor, identifiable by her lack of a Beast Boy tattoo, brushed past Raven. Just as it happened years before, when contact was made Raven had a vision. Unlike the time before it wasn't a series of disjointed images, this time it was very clear. Raven saw Terra and Beast Boy, in their trans dimensional forms, enjoying a very spirited coital encounter. Raven grimaced for a moment, and the blond noticed.

"What?" The foreign Terra hissed

"Why are you here? You should be resting in your room." Raven grilled them.

"We need to talk, witch." The visiting Terra responded. "What she said." The other Terra added.

Raven groaned unhappily. "Let me guess … you want to talk about my boyfriend."

"Your boyfriend? He was mine first! And he still is my boyfriend, even though you stole him from me." The visitor thundered. "Me too!" Local Terra piped up.

"Really? And why is that?"

Visiting Terra harrumphed. "Because he's my lover."

"Are you crazy? Or do you just pretend to be nuts?" Raven replied in slight guttural voice.

Terra bared her teeth at the sorceress. "You haven't had sex with him yet, have you?"

"I fail to see how that would be pertinent to the situation."

"You and your big words, you were a blowhard back home and you're a blowhard here too."

Raven groaned. "OK, fine, let's assume that your "I frakked him first, therefore he's mine" argument is even remotely non fallacious. The problem with it is that you have never slept with my Garfield. I'm sorry to say this Terra, because even though I never met him, it pains me to say this: Your lover, your Garfield, is dead. He isn't my Garfield and my Garfield isn't yours."

Local Terra piped in. "But what about me? I was his first girlfriend!"

Raven gave her an ice cold glare. "First of all, you were never his girlfriend. Yes, he was once in love with you, but you betrayed him. And when you literally came back from the dead you pretended to not know him. You always rejected him. You were never his girlfriend, neither of you. And in case you have forgotten we have a sensitive and possibly dangerous mission tonight, so I suggest you go to your room to rest as Robin instructed you."

Local Terra wasn't about to give up. "If he's your boyfriend, then where is he? Why isn't he here?"

Raven frowned. "Not that it's any of your business, but he's resting in his room. Which is what you should both be doing as well."

The two blonds looked at each other and grinned before looking back at Raven. "You're right, we'll go rest."

The twin geomancers marched out of the room without saying another word and took a right turn down the hallway. Raven rolled her eyes as her door slid shut. She walked back to her bed and sighed. After the unpleasant encounter with the odious twins she was feeling disturbed, especially on account of the very graphic vision she had. It would now take her much longer to reach her meditative state. She climbed back onto her bed and closed her eyes while once again adopting the lotus position.

She was about to begin whispering her mantra when her eyes opened.

Terra's old room was down the hall … to the LEFT. Beast Boys room was down the hall … to the RIGHT.

Raven leaped off of her bed with a scowl on her face.

"Those no good, cheap, slutty blonds." She seethed.

Raven's eyes glowed black as she raised her arms. A black hemisphere rose from the floor. She dropped her arms and it melted away, revealing a snoozing Beast Boy, who was clad only in a pair of white jockey shorts. He shivered and reached for a non existent blanket. Upon not finding it slowly opened his eyes, after which he leaped to his feet, looking around in bewilderment, trying to figure out just what had happened, until he saw his half demon girlfriend. He gave her a biting glare.

"Rave, what the hell!?"

She stared at him, her gray cheeks blushing. "Sorry." She croaked. She furrowed her brow. "You wear briefs?"

"My boxers are all in the laundry … wait a minute … why did you bring me here? I thought you couldn't meditate if I was here."

Raven removed her cape and offered it to him. He shook his head as he declined.

"The Terras, they were on their way to your room."

He crossed his arms. "So?"

"They … well, the other one, she wants to have to sex with you. Actually, I think they both do." She stammered.

"A threesome! Rave, you should have left me there."

"Garfield, this isn't funny." She glared.

"You know I'm just kidding … so, would you send me back to my room now?"

Raven nervously rubbed the back of her neck. "I think they got into your room, you should lock your door when they're around … I can sense their frustration right now. You don't want to go back to your room now, they're waiting for you."

"So what am I supposed to do now?"

"You … you could stay with me."

"In my undies?"

Raven closed her eyes and raised her hands to her temples. She concentrated and one of his Doom Patrol uniforms appeared on her bed.

"I think it should be clean, I teleported it from one of your chest drawers." She turned around.

He quickly dressed. "There, I'm decent now."

"I'm sorry; I didn't mean to embarrass you like that."

"It's no biggie; it's no different than a swimsuit … so I can stay here?"

She nodded. "You can go ahead and sleep on my bed while I meditate. Robin's gonna call us to a late dinner and after that he'll brief us on the mission."

The changeling yawned. "Works for me, I was falling asleep just when you teleported me here."

The changeling hopped on to her bed and made himself comfortable. To Raven's utter amazement he immediately fell asleep.

"How does he do that?"

Raven shrugged to herself, after which she locked the door. She sat down on the carpeted floor and once again tried to meditate. She repeated her mantra a few times, but stopped and rose to her feet. She walked to the side of her bed. Beast Boy was lying on his side and snoring softly.

"You're mine and they'd better get that through their thick skulls." She whispered to herself.

She began to walk away from the bed, ready to try one more time to meditate, but turned back to the bed. She stared at him for a moment before removing her cape and kicking off her blue boots. With the greatest stealth she climbed onto her bed. She snuggled up behind him, spooning him intimately and wrapped an arm around him. He rustled but did not wake; instead he melted into Raven's spoon and feel into a deep sleep. Raven closed her eyes and within a couple of minutes she too fell asleep.

_**-( - )-**_

Raven and Beast Boy were the last ones to respond to Robin's 10 PM summons. When they arrived in the common room the others were already seated at the dinner table, quickly consuming some homemade pizzas Cyborg made. Robin took Slade's warning to heart and did not order takeout as it might give Deathstroke an opportunity to breach the Tower's defenses, which were on highest alert.

They immediately noticed that Starfire, who was seated next to Sarah Simms, looked very unhappy. The two Terras gave Raven dirty glares, which did not go unnoticed by Robin, who cleared his throat.

"Good, you guys are here, we can start. First off, Starfire won't be joining us on the mission …"

The princess let a high pitched harrumph escape from her lips.

"… because she is pregnant, and you know I'm right about this, Star. I also didn't want Sarah left alone in the Tower while we are gone. Raven, can you make one of those flying disks of yours big enough for all six of us?"

Raven glanced at the two geomancers and smiled. They still had their power cancellation collars around their necks. "That won't be a problem, but can't they transport themselves?"

"I want us to stay together." He replied as he stepped behind local Terra and removed her collar. "Terra, or should I say 'Terras', we are going to trust you on this mission." He announced as he removed the visiting Terra's collar.

The other Terra rubbed her neck. "It's about damn time you took these off. I've never betrayed you guys, unlike her." She pointed at local Terra, who bristled in reply: "That was a long time ago."

"You still work for Slade." Raven rebuked her.

"Not anymore, not since he made that deal with Deathstroke."

"You'll run back to him … you always do." Raven deadpanned in her monotone. "What's the deal with you and Slade anyway? Is there something going between the two of you? Are you guys lovers or something?"

Terra's eyes glowed yellow. "How dare you!?"

To everyone's surprise, the visiting twin wrapped her arms around her. "Don't listen to her. This is the kind of crap the witch does. She loves it when everyone thinks she's so wise and impartial, but she plays mind games and makes you look bad."

"That will be enough!" Robin shouted, giving Raven and uncharacteristic glare. "Whatever is going on between the three of you, it can wait until Deathstroke isn't a threat anymore. And if you can't do that, then you'll get to stay behind too. Is that understood?"

The Terras pouted. "Yes, Robin, we understand."

He turned to his gray friend. "What about you, Raven?"

"I will do as you ask." She replied in a contrite tone.

"Good! Now here's the plan. I don't want us to get separated when we are away from the Tower. Deathstroke tried to take us down in Colorado by separating us. It's also how he killed our counterparts; he caught them off guard and separated, even though they were at home. Last time Starfire and Raven were almost killed. That's not going to happen to us, not again."

"What about Slade?" Beast Boy asked. "Are we going to trust him?"

"Never. And for the record, we might be walking into a trap, so I want everyone to stay sharp. Very sharp."

"Then why bother with Slade?" Raven asked.

Robin sighed. "Because right now we need all the help we can get."

_**-( - )-**_

The area around the old library was in ruins, just as it had been since Slade destroyed it years ago when he was Trigon's servant. From Raven's flying disk it looked like a ravaged war zone with its pock marked, burned out and hollow buildings which were too derelict to attract anyone from Jump's homeless population. The desolation extended for several blocks around the library, like a lugubrious purgatory encircling its hellish center. Ever since the incident with Slade the city's mayor repeatedly promised to redevelop the area, but the promise was mere lip service as the district had acquired a sinister and supernatural reputation, even though Trigon had long since been exorcised from it, and the entire Earth, by his daughter. It was plainly obvious that no one would ever want to set up shop or live in what was now informally called Trigonland by the locals.

Beast Boy could feel it, the residual darkness that remained and which became stronger and stronger as they came closer to the library. Goosebumps formed on his arms and he shivered.

"I feel it too." Raven whispered to him. It was obvious that they weren't the only ones that felt it. In all the years since the Terror of Trigon there had never been another mission inside that district. Even criminals felt the evil that still remained and avoid the area like the plague.

Raven flew her disk over the chain link fence that surrounded the old library and landed it in front of the building's dilapidated main entrance.

"I think going in there is a bad idea." Cyborg remarked in a low whisper. "Raven, are you sure those ghost thingies are gone?"

"They are. What you're feeling is their aura. But they are gone."

Cyborg stepped up to the library's old wooden doors and pulled on it. The door was consumed with dry rot and crumbled in his huge metal hands. The Tin Man kicked the rest of the door down and led the way in.

"This place gives me even more creeps than last time." A wide eyed changedling muttered.

"I couldn't agree more, green bean."

"Cut the chatter, Titans … stay focused, stay sharp." Robin chided his teammates as he turned on a portable halogen light. He used it to scan the library's interior, which he did in a very thorough and systematic way, searching for any sign of trouble. Finding none he focused his spotlight on the decrepit remains of the reference desk.

Slade was nowhere to be found.

The Titans slowly approached the rendezvous point.

"Slade stood us up." Cyborg remarked.

"It's not midnight yet, it's … 11:59." Terra checked the time on her communicator. "Once thing I learned about Slade … he's super punctual, he's never early or late."

"I see that my efforts to teach you haven't been a waste of time, apprentice." Slade's baritone echoed in the library.

Robin spun around on his feet, using his spotlight to search for the source of the voice. "Where are you, Slade!? Show yourself, now!"

Slade emerged from behind a huge bookcase. "I thought we were allies, my dear Robin." An older, gray man appeared next to Slade.

"I wouldn't go that far, Slade. And who's the geezer?"

The older man bristled. "My name is William Randolph Wintergreen." The man replied in what sounded like a generic English accent.

"You mean you're Slade's sidekick?"

Wintergreen bristled at the remark but Slade shushed him. "Wintergreen is my friend and confidante, and has been so since you were in diapers."

Robin opened his mouth to speak; but Slade cut him off.

"I know what you are about to ask. When you were my apprentice, I kept Wintergreen hidden from you. You didn't really think I was going to reveal all my secrets to you, did you … Dick Grayson?"

Robin's mouth went dry. "What did you say?" He stammered.

"Deathstroke revealed your secret identity to me, before we had our falling out."

Beast Boy stepped forward and pointed an accusatory finger at their masked nemesis. "How do we know that you aren't really Deathstroke?"

Wintergreen stepped forward and gave the green Titan a glare worthy of Raven. "If Wilson was Deathstroke, you would already be dead, you stupid fool!"

The changeling bared his teeth at Wintergreen. He felt a hand on his shoulder and saw that Raven was literally sucking the anger out of him. His muscles relaxed and his fury vanished and was replaced by a sense of serenity.

"Rave … what did you just do?"

"It's a trick I learned in the other dimension; my counterpart was able to "eat" people's emotions, especially the bad ones."

He exhaled deeply. "Whatever you did, that was amazing … I feel so relaxed."

"I think we all need to relax." Robin interjected. "Slade, you said that you would have information for us."

"I do and I'm afraid that is it bad. Deathstroke has been able to take over all of my hideouts. Only my secret lair remains uncompromised. He has also taken control of my droids and has locked me out of the command structure. I can't recover my robots and I expect he will use them against us."

"So you're saying that we're up the creek without a paddle, Slade?" Terra grumbled.

"Not entirely, apprentice. We still have you and you interdimensional twin at our disposal. That said, this might be a good time to ask the Justice League for some help."

"I already contacted them. They're swamped right now, we're on our own." Robin replied.

"Hey, I could call the Doom Patrol." Beast Boy volunteered.

"No!" Slade and Robin replied in unison.

"Why not?" The changeling protested.

Before anyone could answer one of Slade's signature explosive shurikens came whizzing by and embedded itself in the large, oak reference desk. Its LEDs began to flash as it began its ominous countdown.

"Hit the deck!" Slade shouted.

The shuriken exploded.

_**-( - )-**_

Looks like Deathstroke found them!

I'm skipping the mail bag today since it want to post this ASAP as it's my Birthday today.


	18. Chapter 18

Beast Boy stared wide eyed at the oversized shuriken. The LED timer on it showed 5 seconds until detonation. And to make things even worse, his girlfriend was only meters away from it. Like an Olympic sprinter he bolted towards her.

"Raven! Watch out!"

She was staring at the reference desk, and without turning to face him she extended her hand in his direction. A blast of dark energy hit him and sent him flying. A wave of despair surged through his being when he understood what she was doing: she was getting him out of harm's way … and was sacrificing herself in the process.

"Nooooo!" He screamed as landed near the library's entrance, rolling to a stop on the cold marble floor. Before he could get up he heard it: the shuriken exploded and a bright flash lit up the library, which shuddered from the force of the explosion. His heart sank as he rose to his feet and with his brain wracked with the fear of loss he looked towards the desk, bracing himself for the worst.

He exhaled loudly when he saw the aftermath of the explosion and a relieved whimper escaped his lips. Both Terras had their arms extended and had formed a cylindrical barrier with the marble from the floor around the reference desk, which was also encased in Raven's obsidian light. Raven dropped her arms and her barrier vanished. The Terras did the same and the cylinder crumbled like a sandcastle, revealing the wreckage that was once the reference desk.

"Good work, ladies!" Robin shouted. "Raven, this is an ambush, we need an emergency teleport out of here, now!"

Raven nodded and as soon as the changeling was back at her side she raised her arms and not a moment too soon, as a barrage of more explosive shurikens rained down on them. Her giant spectral bird appeared and engulfed all present before flying away. As it flapped its giant wings in the sky above a series of explosions engulfed the library, culminating in a final mega explosion which completely destroyed the old building.

Raven's bird disappeared into the dark nighttime sky and didn't land until it reached an old cemetery far in Jump's outskirts. The bird disappeared, revealing a white eyed Raven, whose now open cape ejected her passengers from its dark and mysterious folds..

The cemetery, which was over a hundred years old and abandoned, was located on a hilltop overlooking the city. The tombstones looked old, worn and dilapidated, and jutted out at odd angles. It was clear that no one ever came by to visit anymore. A red glow in the downtown area indicated where the old library once stood and the sound of fire engine sirens could be heard.

"That was a close call." Robin muttered breathlessly before turning to Slade. "What is with your twin? He's a psycho."

Slade also stared at the fire's glow in the night. "You're right, he is unhinged and I don't know why. What I do know us that he is obsessed with killing you in a way I never was."

"I know why." Visiting Terra interjected. "Your counterparts accidentally killed Grant."

"Who?" Robin asked, before turning to Slade. "What is she talking about?"

Slade did not answer.

"If you don't tell them, I will." Visiting Terra growled.

"Very well … Grant is … was … my son. You had nothing to do with his death, so I don't know what she's talking about."

"Dude … you have … a kid?" Beast Boy gasped.

"He has three kids … and you know one of them." The visitor added.

"Be silent, child!" Slade hissed at her.

"We know one of Slade's kids?" Cyborg said with heavy tone of skepticism.

"Yes, Victor, he's a friend of yours." Terra added.

"I'm warning you, Terra, do not say another word!" Slade howled at her.

"Who is it?" Raven pressed.

"It's Jericho."

Raven's face fell. "Jericho? You gotta be kidding me? He's the nicest guy in the world. Slade's his father?"

"Probably takes after his mom." Beast Boy added with a snort.

Slade's body language betrayed his displeasure. Wintergreen scowled at Terra. "You'll regret having such a big mouth, you spoiled brat!"

Slade raised his hand and Wintergreen fell silent. "What's done is done. And since you are wondering who my 3rd child is, I have a daughter and she is living with foster parents and doesn't know about me. But right now we have more pressing matters." He looked at Raven. "Your choice of bringing us here was a good one, but it won't be long until he finds us again."

"What are you saying, Slade?" Robin frowned.

"Your home is the only safe place in town. At this point I do not trust my secret lair to be safe anymore."

"That's too bad for you, Slade; because you're on your own. The last time you got into our Tower you almost killed us." The Tin Man sneered

"The past is in the past; right now you are facing your most deadly foe since Trigon. And you need me now just as much as you did then. And I need you too, as long as Deathstroke is at large I have nothing to gain by double crossing you."

"Like hell we need you! Yo, Rob; we don't need him, I say we kick him out right now.."

"Actually … we do need him." A crestfallen Robin capitulated. He turned to the demoness. "Raven, take us home. "

"Are you sure about this?" She asked in her gravelly voice. "Do we really want to let Slade into our home?"

He approached her and put his hands on her shoulders. "I am. Take us home."

_**-( - )-**_

"In you go, Slade." Cyborg announced as he shoved Slade into a cell, along with Wintergreen. Robin pressed a button and the hum of a force field echoed in the room.

"Robin … after all we've been through, you're locking me up for the night?" Slade asked in a mocking tone.

"You'd better believe it!" Cyborg fumed. "Just because we're working with you, doesn't mean we trust you."

"We need to start trusting each other. If we are going to defeat Deathstroke I will have to reveal some of my darkest secrets to you and you will have to do the same."

"You can do that in the morning." Robin replied. "Right now we all need to rest and we can't do that unless you're locked up."

Both Terras, with their collars back on, were present. "And that goes for the two of you as well."

"This is bullshit!" Visiting Terra complained, poking Robin angrily with her finger. "I've never been on his side and you know what, why won't you trust me? I'm not her! And you didn't lock us up last night, so what gives?"

"This isn't up for discussion. You can either sleep in a cell, or outside the Tower. Make your choice."

Both blonds glared at Robin, but reluctantly stepped into their cells. Robin activated their force fields.

"I'll be back at 6 AM to let you out. If you want to be productive tonight, think of a way we can defeat this bastard."

Cyborg and Robin walked out of the cell block.

"She has a point, gel hair."

"Maybe she does; but I think it was far too convenient that Deathstroke knew we were at the library."

"I dunno … maybe he's just that good. It's hard to trick and evade Slade, why should this dude be any easier?"

"I'd rather be safe than sorry … go ahead and recharge, I'll take first watch."

_**-( - )-**_

Raven and Beast Boy entered her room. They had been assigned the final watch, just before dawn, so they had a couple of hours to rest. Raven kicked off her boots, removed her belt and cape before pulling back the bed covers.

"Let's get some sleep, we need it."

The changeling did not respond.

"You're upset with me."

No response.

"Gar, it was instinct. I was trying to protect you."

He turned around and gave her the scariest glare she had ever seen. "Protect me? And what about you? You could have been killed!"

She sighed. "Yes, I know; it was embarrassing for you. But I was never in any danger."

"You didn't know that! That's why you shoved me away."

She pursed her lips. "I know you want to protect me. I feel the same way about you. And at that moment there was nothing you could do to protect me, but I could protect you. And if I can do that I will, and nothing will stop me; not even you."

He snorted his unhappiness. "You know what, Rave; sometimes you're a real pain in the ass."

"Takes one to know one."

Before he could reply there was a knock on the door.

"It's Robin." She announceds

"Yeah, I can smell his nasty hair gel through the door. I wonder what he wants."

Raven opened the door and Robin peered into her room. "Good, you're both here. I have some new uniforms for you."

"You have what?" Raven replied.

Robin handed each of them a box. "Remember when Deathstroke injected you with inhibitol? These are some suits Cyborg and I have been working on for a while. They're a Nomex/Kevlar compound. They're pretty much bullet proof. And yours, Beast Boy, is compatible with your morphing. Become a wolf and it will reshape to protect you. I wanted to tweak these some more; you'll find them a little stiff and a bit warm, but there's no time for that now, they'll have to do."

Raven opened her box and pulled her new suit out, holding in front of her. It was a full body unitard that would cover her completely except for her head.

"You can wear your cape over it."

"You expect us to wear these?" She asked.

"Starting tomorrow, I know it's a pain but we can't be too careful … I'll see you in the morning."

The door slid shut. Beast Boy opened his box and examined his new uniform.

"This blows, it's bulky and it weighs a ton."

"He has a point." Raven whispered. "We need every advantage we can get. If you had that suit the time we fought Deathstroke in the mountains he wouldn't have disabled you and I wouldn't have been stabbed."

He heaved an unhappy sigh. "Yeah, you're right."

She took the box from him and put it down.

"Gar, I, your girlfriend, am asking you to come to bed with me."

He smiled sheepishly. "OK, let's sleep."

They climbed into the bed and snuggled up with each other. The room fell quiet for a moment until she broke the silence.

"Gar … do you love me?"

He opened his eyes. "You know that I do."

"You know that I love you too?

"Yeah … I do." He replied.

She snuggled even closer to him, wrapping her arms tightly around him.

"Gar … I never thought that anyone would over love me … you know … romantically. I know our friends love us and we love them. But now it's different and … I … I guess I'm scared, scared of losing it all before I can really experience it. Do you understand what I mean?"

He nodded. "Yeah, we're just getting started and who knows, maybe Deathstroke will win and we'll never get beyond where we are now. Having this now, I mean, it's all new and pretty exciting but yeah, we're just getting started and maybe he'll get us and this is all we'll ever know."

Raven looked at him in the eyes. "Have you read that book at all?"

He blushed. "Yeah, I did. And … uh … the spiritual touchy feely stuff, it makes sense."

She smiled. "You looked at the pictures too, right?"

His blush intensified. "Well … yeah … I mean … it was pretty intense stuff, really hot, if you know what I mean."

Raven became very quiet before speaking in a hushed tone.

"Could you see us doing that someday?" She stammered.

He swallowed hard. "Actually … yeah … I can, when we're older."

"Older? We're both adults now."

"I know … I guess what I'm trying to say is that … yeah, I think of it a lot, I think of us, you know … doing it … but I'd never want to pressure you into that."

Raven pulled him into a tender kiss, which he reciprocated. They continued kissing with some gentle groping for several minutes, until she pulled back.

"Garfield, I have no idea of what's going to happen tomorrow. For all I know we might be dead before the sun sets."

"I know, but as long as I'm with you, no matter what happens, I'll be OK."

Her eyes trembled and she pulled him into a fiery kiss. She pulled back again and gazed longingly into his eyes.

"Gar?"

"Yeah, Rave?"

"I'm ready."

_**-( - )-**_

Raven and Beast Boy arrived in the common room before the sun had risen, wearing their new costumes. Both were jet black and hugged their physiques tightly. The both looked uncomfortable and very self conscious in their skin tight suits.

Cyborg was already in the kitchen, getting ready to prepare the morning meal. Sarah was also up, helping him out. As soon as he saw the Chromatically Challenged Couple™ he smiled.

"So, did you lovebirds have a good night?"

"Whatever we did last night is none of your business." Raven snapped at him.

"Whoa, calm down, I'm not saying anything happened last night." He replied as scanned them with his infrared eye. He immediately detected tell tale signs that they didn't get much sleep. He looked at Beast Boy, who immediately looked away from him. Something was afoot. The tin man grinned. It was a good thing that Batgirl and Batman had gone back to Gotham, or they would know about this as well, and Raven wouldn't like that, not one bit.

"Have a seat; I know you guys were on watch. Breakfast will be ready soon."

Raven sat down while Beast Boy went into the kitchen to prepare his own vegetarian meal. As he rummaged through the fridge Cyborg approached him with a goofy smile on his face.

"OK, grass stain, spill it. The infrared eye doesn't lie, what happened last night?" He whispered.

The changeling gave him a cross look.

"C'mon, you can tell me."

A frown formed on the green Titan's face. "It's none of your business, but I know you won't stop bugging me until I tell you."

He sighed. "Last night we talked about our future. Then, out of the blue, Raven told me she was ready."

"Ready? Ready for what?"

Beast Boy's frown intensified. "What do you think she meant?" Cyborg become wide eyed.

"Whoa, are you serious … you mean she was ready to go all the way with you?"

"Yeah." He hissed back at his friend as he carried his ingredients to the counter and began to dice some onions and bell peppers for a tofu omelet.

"B, I'm proud of you."

"Don't be. We didn't do it. I chickened out."

"What?"

"I said we should wait."

Cyborg was unable to conceal the look of surprise on his face. "You did what? B, she handed herself to you on a silver platter."

The changeling gave his buddy an icy glare. "Dude, she's my girlfriend, not a one night stand. She's special."

Cyborg smiled. "So you really love her?"

"Yeah, I do. And when we do it for the first time I want it to be special, really special … you know … one of those moments you never forget. I didn't want it to be a quickie, done before we went on our watch."

Cyborg chuckled "BB, you're an incurable romantic."

The sliding doors opened and Robin, Starfire, the two Terras, Slade and Wintergreen entered the room. Robin and Starfire were also wearing their new costumes. To everyone's surprise, Slade removed his mask as he sat down at the table.

"Let this gesture be a token of my goodwill." Slade remarked. "Now you know what I really look like."

Everyone sat down to eat as the sun was beginning to rise outside. The mood was quiet and it was Beast Boy who spoke up first.

"Why don't you guys want the Doom Patrol to help us?" He asked.

"Because, Mento is an insufferable prick and know it all." Slade replied. "I have never encountered a more odious superhero in all my days."

"He sounds just like you, except he isn't a villain." Raven calmly replied while she continued to eat.

"Very funny, daughter of Trigon."

Raven looked at Slade for a split second, before returning to her meal. Robin cleared his throat. "Actually, I contacted Mento this morning. I asked him if they could help us. They're on their way here as we speak."

"What made you change your mind?" Raven asked.

Robin sighed. "We need help, and right away. Look at us; we're hiding here like a bunch of scared children in a school lockdown."

"But we are safe here, right?" Sarah asked.

"Don't worry; as long as you stay in the Tower, you're safe." Cyborg comforted her. "I'm sorry that you got dragged into this mess."

_**-( - )-**_

Jump City Bay was a fairly large one. The Tower was on the south end of the bay, next to the city's downtown area. The bay's north side was mostly cliffs and it was mostly undeveloped. On the highest bluff were the ruins of the old observatory, which years before Professor Chang used to house his turbo laser. Only half of the building was left, accidentally carved away by the laser when it malfunctioned after Robin and Red-X destroyed the control panel. The remains of the old turbo laser were never removed, as it was harmless without Xenothium to power it, and Xenothium was a preciously rare commodity.

The old observatory was also remote and somewhat inaccessible, which meant that it never had visitors. Today, however was the exception, as two mysterious figured explored the ruins. An old grey man climbed into the controller's seat and pulled a plastic sheet off the control panel, which still had bird-a-rangs and some strange red colored x shaped weapons embedded in it.

"I can repair it Wilson, the damage is minor."

Deathstroke was scanning the Tower with his collapsible telescope. "Excellent. According to Slade's database, this cannon can turn the Tower into Swiss cheese."

"But without any Xenothoium, this is nothing more than a giant paperweight." Wintergreen remarked.

Deathstroke chuckled. "Leave that to me."

_**-( - )-**_

I forgot to mention that after the celebration that Bruce, Babs and Alfred went back to Gotham. Oops. I'll go back and fix that in a previous chapter.

To all those who wished me a happy birthday, thanks!


	19. Chapter 19

"I hate this, I feel like a caged animal."

Raven said nothing as she watched her boyfriend pace around her room, visibly agitated at being confined to the Tower.

"I don't like it any more than you do, but we need reinforcements, as much as I hate to admit it … we're no match for Deathstroke."

He swirled around and locked eyes with her. "How can that be possible? He doesn't even have any powers!"

"Didn't you hear what Slade told Robin? That he's chemically enhanced?"

The changeling's eyes boggled. "He's what?"

Raven had been sitting on edge of her bed and she stood up. "You know how Red Star was the result of a Russian experiment that went wrong. Well, Slade was created by the US Army, and things went even more wrong with him … why are armies always trying to create super soldiers? It always backfires."

"Rave, you're kidding me? Slade is enhanced?"

"I'm not kidding, and apparently whatever was done to Deathstroke was even more effective."

Beast Boy plopped down on her bed, landing on his back. "So he's more bad ass than Slade? We are so screwed."

"I think we've known for a while that he's more dangerous than Slade. Why do you think Robin caved in and called the Doom Patrol for help?"

"About time, but why didn't he also call Bats? I thought they made up."

Raven shrugged. "I don't know … sometimes I find our fearless leader to be a bit irrational, at least when it comes to his former mentor."

The changeling sat up. "Well, I kinda know how he feels."

"You mean Mento?"

"Duh! Who else?"

"How is that the same? Mento, or should I say Steve Dayton, is your adoptive father."

The changeling frowned. He had recently shared the secret that Mento and Elastigirl were not only married, but that they had legally adopted him.

"You know, Rave, I'd think that you'd be dreading knowing that they're coming over."

"And why is that?" She deadpanned.

He looked up at her and gave her a strange look, like he was trying to read her.

"Two words … Jillian Jackson."

She raised an eyebrow. "Is that name supposed to mean something to me?"

"It will once they find out that you're my girlfriend."

A small frown appeared on her face. "Who exactly is this woman, Garfield?"

He rubbed the back of his neck as a nervous grin appeared on his face. Her heart sank … he was about to tell her something that was certain to upset her.

"Well … you see … back when I was still in the Doom Patrol, just a few months before I quit the team and came to Jump, well … you see … how can I say this?"

Raven face palmed. "She was your girlfriend?"

His nervous grin widened. "Uh … good guess."

She sighed. "That was years ago. Have you been in contact with her since then?"

"What? No, of course not."

"So what is the problem?"

"Well, you see … they've stayed in contact with her. They like her a lot because … well … she's a normie. They think that a 'normal' girl is the best thing for me. Don't ask me why."

Raven face palmed a second time. "Let me guess, they want you to get back together with her."

"Since like forever. Rave, they're crazy about her. I've told them that there's nothing between me and Jill anymore, but they just won't listen."

An unhappy groan escape the demoness's lips.

"And what about me? How did they react when you told them about us?" She asked in edgy tone.

He heaved a huge sigh. "Well … you see … I haven't had a chance to tell them yet … I hardly ever talk to them anymore, Rave."

Raven crossed her arms and frowned. "Well, at least I now know why you won't have sex with me."

"What are you talking about?"

Her frown became a scowl. "Admit it, you're ashamed of me."

"Whaaaat!? No I'm not! Why would I be ashamed of you?"

She turned away from him. "Gar, I'm not stupid, I know I'm not the kind of girl a guy takes home to meet his parents. I'm a gray skinned, foul tempered demoness … it's pretty obvious that I'm damaged goods. How am I supposed to compete with this Jillian of yours?"

An exasperated groan escaped his throat. "She's not 'my Jillian' and you're not in competition with her."

"Then why are you so worried about your parents coming here?"

"Why? Do you even have to ask? Steve is so anal retentive that he makes Robin look laid back, and he's got this thing in head that Jillian and I are made for each other." He fumed. "And it doesn't matter what I tell him, he just won't listen, he never does." He stomped his foot in anger.

"So, you aren't ashamed of me?"

His expression softened. "Of course not. Rave, you're the most awesome girl I've ever known."

"More awesome than Terra?" She smirked.

"More awesome than two Terras." He smiled back.

She pulled him into a prolonged kiss. After a blissful eternity they surfaced for air.

"Gar … I'm still ready."

"I know … I just want to wait for when the time is right."

"And when will that be, my green bean? We demonesses have needs, you know?"

The changeling could feel the arousal swell within him. Part of him wanted to just take her there and then, his animal half ached for her. She was his mate, and the wild, untamed part of him was ready to claim her as his property. But he was also human.

"I was thinking of our honeymoon."

Raven's mouth became agape upon hearing those words.

"Garfield, do you mean … are you saying …"

"Yeah, I want you for keeps."

She pulled away from him, with a shocked look on her face. "Gar, I … I wasn't expecting you to say that."

"It's what I was gonna tell my parents, that you're 'the one', but … if you think I shouldn't tell them that…" His voice trailed off.

"I didn't mean that … I'm … I'm just surprised."

"Surprised is good. I think Raven Logan has a nice ring to it."

She drew close to him. He was now a few inches taller than her. She leaned her forehead on his chest.

"So, do you really want to spend the rest of your life with me? Gar, I know I'm not a great catch. I'm half demon and I have a horrible personality."

"No you don't."

"I'm creepy, I like dark and scary things … I'm dark and scary."

"Yeah, you are … and that's what makes you so freaking awesome."

Her face still buried in his chest, she sighed. "Have I ever told you that you're stupid?"

"More than once. Are you saying that I'm stupid now?"

She raised her face and looked him in the eyes. "No, but I think you're crazy … you could do so much better than me."

"Isn't that for me to decide? And by the way, I disagree."

Her eyes trembled and he pulled her into a kiss. She gently pushed him back. "You want me?"

"You know that I do." His voice rumbled like that of a wildcat.

"Then take me, now." She purred back.

His eyes trembled as he nodded. Raven reached for her cape, undid the clasp and removed it.

"Are you ready?" She whispered as she led him to her bed.

Before he could reply, their communicators chirped in unison. They each flipped theirs open. Cyborg's face appeared on the display and he had a huge smirk. "Stop playing patty cake and get your keisters to the hangar. The Doom Patrol is ready to land, and guess who else is about to land? It's the Batwing!"

Cyborg's face disappeared and they snapped their communicators shut. A big frown appeared on her face.

"I hate it when he does that. He has an innate knack for being inopportune. I still haven't forgiven him for the stankball incident."

He regaled her with a sly grin. "You mean he 'cock blocked' us."

She glared at him. "That's a crude and disgusting expression… but in this case it's very accurate."

He took her hand. "Come on, let's go meet my folks."

She rolled her eyes. "We've already met, in case you forgot."

"You've met Mento and Elastigirl. You're going to meet my parents, Steve and Rita Dayton."

Raven felt a lump form in the pit of her stomach. She was going to be introduced to her future in-laws. She suddenly remembered Robin's words the night years ago when they watched the movie 'Wicked Scary', about how he had faced monsters and psychotic villains but that the movie scared him more. In her case, she was feeling the same way, except that it wasn't a movie that was terrifying her, it was something far more real: her fiancé's parents, who didn't know that their son wanted to marry what was basically a monster from hell.

No one ever said it was easy being Raven.

_**-( - )-**_

The Chromatically Challenged Couple™ were the last to arrive at the hangar. The overhead doors where open and the Batwing was just touching down. Babs was sitting behind Batman and waved at the Boy Wonder, who in turn waved back at her. The hanger roared with the thunder from both ship's engines as the Doom Patrol's ship also landed. The turbine engines also produced gale force like winds inside the hangar, until their pilots shut off their jets.

A hatch popped open on the side of the Doom Patrol's jet, and a small staircase extended from it. Negative Man and Robotman were the first two to emerge and Beast Boy ran up to greet them. Raven trailed behind and caught up with.

"Larry, Cliff, you guys remember Raven, right?"

"Hard to forget a pretty lady like her." Larry replied as he extended his hand, which Raven politely shook as a small smile appeared on her face. Beast Boy's gaze returned to the hatch and he swallowed hard as Steve and Rita emerged, which did not go unnoticed by Cliff.

"What are you worried about, kid?"

"Them." Garfield replied.

"Don't sweat it; they have a surprise for you." Larry said.

"A surprise?"

"We also have one for them." Raven interjected.

"What kind of surprise?" Cliff asked.

Raven took the changeling's gloved hand and gave it a firm squeeze.

"Oh snap!" Negative Man chortled.

"Don't laugh, Larry." Cliff grunted. "Now I know why the kid is worried."

Steve and Rita, who were still climbing down the steps, noticed the hand holding Titans and frowned. That was when Raven noticed that a fifth passenger came through the hatch: a very pleasant looking young blond woman. She squeezed his hand even harder, to the point where it began to hurt.

"Uh, Rave … my hand?"

She released his hand and turned to face him.

"Tell me that isn't her."

He gulped. "Well … uh … I haven't seen her in a long time, so it's kinda hard to tell and ..."

She glared at him.

"OK, yes … that's Jill."

Before Raven could reply Mento, Rita and Jill approached them. Jill had a sweet smile on her face. In a very territorial gesture Raven drew close to her beau and took his hand. Rita also noticed the gesture and she looked slightly cross.

"Garfield, is there something you want to tell us?"

He nervously cleared his throat and stammered. "Well … you see … Raven's …"

"Your girlfriend!" Jill announced with a big smile on her face. "Oh Gar, that's so sweet!"

It was Raven's turn to clear her throat. "Actually, to be accurate, I'm his fiancée."

Rita gasped. Mento frowned. Cyborg whispered a quiet booyah. The Terras looked like they were sucking lemons. Starfire giggled happily while she clapped her hands. Robin was standing next to Babs and extended his palm to her. She sighed unhappily, before reaching for her utility belt and handing him a $100 bill.

Jill lunged forward and wrapped her arms around the changeling. "Gar, I'm so happy for you! What a wonderful surprise!"

Raven watched the exchange, which include a few chaste pecks on the cheeks they exchanged with each other, with a jaundiced eye. Raven's eyes then widened in surprise as Jill turned towards her and also gave her a heartfelt embrace. She turned to the changeling, looking extremely uncomfortable and stiff as a board while she mouthed the words: "She's hugging me, why is she hugging me?"

"I've heard so much about you Raven, it great to finally meet you in person. Gar is a great guy … trust me, I know. Congratulations on your engagement!"

"Garfield … how come your mother and I are only just finding out about this … news? We didn't even know that you and Raven were dating."

The changeling rubbed the back of his neck as he sweat dropped. "I … uh … meant to … things kinda got busy and … uh … sorry?"

"I think the real question here is why did you bring Miss Jackson to the Tower? She isn't a super hero." Raven interjected.

"We brought her here for her own safety. If this Deathstroke is as dangerous as Slade says he is …"

"Trust me, he is. And Raven, Beast Boy, congratulations on your announcement, I'm sure that the Terras are both thrilled." Slade remarked as emerged from the shadows. Mento adopted a fighting stance.

"Are you insane? Why isn't he locked up in a cell?"

Slade chuckled. "Relax, Dayton." He replied as he tapped on the power cancellation collar he was wearing, just as the two Terras were as well. "As you can see Robin keeps me on a leash, though there is no need for it, as Deathstroke wants to eliminate me too. How does the saying go? The enemy of my enemy is my friend?"

"I wouldn't go that far Slade. We'll never be friends." Robin responded in a very terse voice.

"You got that right, Rob." Cyborg agreed.

Slade chuckled again. "As you wish … we are allies of convenience."

Batman remained silent the whole time, observing the exchange of words. He stepped forward with his arms across his chest.

"I remember when you were Deathstroke the Terminator."

Slade looked at the Dark Knight. "You were a formidable opponent, Bats. While you were never able to capture me, you foiled every assassination contract I had in Gotham. You probably don't know this, but it was you who inspired me to reinvent myself. You always saw the big picture, Wayne; and you made me realize that being an expensive hitman was beneath me, that I was capable of so much more. It is unfortunate that my counterpart doesn't see things that way, he never moved beyond being a bounty hunter, and because of that he continued to hone those skills and is now far more deadly and dangerous than I ever was."

"So you're saying that you went soft, Slade?" Cyborg asked with a hint of mock in his voice.

"Cyborg, your naiveté; it's so precious. But to answer your question, no, I have not gone soft."

"But Deathstroke continued to harden." Raven remarked.

"Very good, Raven; you always were the smart Titan. It was unfortunate for your father that he underestimated you, but rest assured; Deathstroke won't repeat Trigon's blunder."

"We will take Deathstroke out before he can hurt anyone." Mento announced with bravado.

Slade chuckled. "That will be easier said than done. None of you were ever able to capture me, what makes you think you can capture him?"

"We outnumber him." Robotman interjected.

"That was never a problem for me; the entire Justice League was never able to catch me when I was Deathstroke. It certainly won't be a problem for him."

"OK, wise guy, so how do we catch him?"

"We have to think like him. Fortunately for you, I'm here. I know how he thinks."

Robin frowned. "OK, Slade; we'll play your game. Deathstroke obviously knows that the Doom Patrol and Batman are here in the Tower. What's his next move?"

"Isn't it obvious?"

"He'll try to take us all down at once." Batman deduced.

"Very good, Bats, Ra's Al Ghul calls you 'The Detective' for a reason."

Cyborg stepped forward. "As long as we're in the Tower, we're all safe. And that goes for Sarah and Jill too."

"Your precious Tower isn't as impregnable as you think."

"We sure kept you out. You needed a spy to get past my defenses."

They were interrupted by the mission console, which beeped. Beast Boy responded and after a few keyboard clicks he frowned.

"Someone stole a whole kilogram of Xenothium from the local Lexcorp facility. It happened about an hour ago. The thief is long gone and all security was disabled and they have no idea who did it."

Cyborg snorted. "It was probably Red-X. He's always swiping Xenothium to power his stupid suit."

Batman shook his head. "No, not Red-X. It was Deathstroke."

"What would Deathstroke need Xenothium for?" Robin asked as he turned towards Slade. "You never had any Xenothium powered weapons, did you?"

Slade crossed his arms. "I did not." He walked towards a window and pointed across the bay. "But Professor Chang did."

The five Titans gasped.

"We need to get out of here!" Beast Boy shouted.

Robin produced a pair of binoculars and looked across the bay towards the wreckage of the old observatory. His mind raced. The cannon was left behind, that was true, but it was also non functional. The local authorities, always citing budgetary issues, made the final dismantling of the cannon's remains a low priority, claiming that it would be next to impossible for anyone to repair it and procure the Xenothium to fuel it. All they did was erect a chain link fence around it and post "Keep Out" signs.

He fiddled with his lenses, bringing them into focus. When they finally did, he gasped. Deathstroke and his companion were visible. But that wasn't the worst of it. Deathstroke was seated at the control panel. The cannon was in motion, as it was being aimed at its target: Titans Tower.

_**-( - )-**_

Another cliff hanger!

And I have some bad news. I won't be updating next weekend, as I will be attending Denver Comic Con, all three days. I'll try to update before, but no promises.


	20. Chapter 20

The Tower shimmered in the late afternoon sun, its bright light reflecting off of the nearly indestructible transparisteel panels that Cyborg used to replace just a year before the old glass shatterproof windows that the Tower had for years. After installing them the tin man bragged to his teammates that the Tower was now impervious to any attack. It was one of the reasons why both Sarah Simms and Jillian Jackson were brought to the Tower for their protection.

Deathstroke had done his homework. He knew that this Tower was as safe as a bunker, which was why he searched for a weapon that could breach it … and found it in Slade's database.

A targeting display popped up from the control console, at which Deathstroke was seated. The laser cannon continued to rotate. The hum of the electric motors that rotated the massive weapon echoed in the remnants of the observatory's dome. Wintergreen loaded the canister of Xenothium into the cannon's revolver like rotating cylinder.

The Tower appeared in the targeting screen, on its far right. Deathstroke continued to adjust the cannon's aim until the leftmost part of the Tower's top floor appeared in the cross hairs. He released the aiming levers and the cannon ceased to rotate.

"Target acquired!" He shouted without looking back at his assistant.

"Xenothium loaded. Ready to fire!" Wintergreen shouted back.

Deathstroke reached for a read lever on the control panel and pulled. A series of multi-pitched hums were heard and the entire cannon vibrated after which a bright red beam shot out of the cannon's tip, making a beeline to its target.

The trasnparisteel windows tried their best to resist the attacking beam and while they didn't instantly succumb to the red knife that shot across the bay, in the end they could not resist. Motorists on the bay bridge saw the beam, and more than a few recalled seeing it attack Titans Tower years before, when the beam cut through the home of the city's guardians like a hot knife through butter.

Back in his control console, Deathstroke resumed rotating the cannon, and watched on the targeting display as the laser cannon methodically shaved off the top floor on the Tower. As it reached the opposite end the beam ceased its attack, but the respite was very brief. Wintergreen continued to supervise the fuel cylinder, which rotated like one on a revolver. A red light appeared on Deathstroke's control panel, and as soon as the cylinder rotated to the next chamber with a Xenothium canister the red light turned green. Wintergreen quickly removed the spent canister and replaced it a fresh one full of Xenothium, fully reloading the cannon as it powered up to resume its mission of destruction and mayhem.

Another beam shot across the bay, and citizens around the bay watched in mesmerized horror as another floor in the Tower was obliterated into nothingness.

"Are the Titans still in there?" A worried soccer mom muttered to herself as she gathered her children into the family minivan, wondering where she should escape to keep her family safe from possible harm when the reality of situation sank in for her and millions of other Jumpians: if Titans Tower wasn't safe, then none of them were safe.

Deathstroke continued to systematically decimate the Tower, only pausing to reload Xenothium canisters. Finally, less than two minutes after the attack began the Tower was gone, completely disintegrated. All that remained was a black plume of smoke that rose from the island.

Wintergreen approached the console, where Deathstroke remained seated.

"Did anyone escape?"

"No, nothing left the Tower, not even Raven's spectral bird. As per the plan we caught them by surprise. They had no time to react and evacuate … it's done Wintergreen. We have succeeded beyond our wildest dreams. Not only are the Titans no more, we took out Slade, the Doom Patrol and the Batman as well."

Wintergreen smiled. "Congratulations, Wilson; you did it."

Deathstroke nodded. "Too bad I can't thank Slade. I couldn't have done it without him."

_**-( - )-**_

The Tower shuddered as the beam hit it. The common room rocked and shook and every alarm began to blare. With is binoculars still in his hand Robin turned to Cyborg and shouted: "The chutes!"

Cyborg was a step ahead of the Boy Wonder and ran to a wall and punch a big red button on it. The wall slid aside, revealing what looked like five fireman poles.

"Go, go!" Robin shouted as he directed everyone present to the emergency escape exits. Cyborg scooped up Sarah and grabbed onto a pole. It was a 300 foot decent into utter darkness. The young woman looked petrified but Cyborg said nothing as they slid down. The others quickly followed suit and within seconds the common was empty. Mento grabbed Jillian, who looked petrified, and they were the last to leave and not a moment too soon as the read laser tore through the common room, vaporizing everything in its wake jus seconds after they slid down the pole into the darkness.

Jill screamed all the way down, as the sounds of annihilation above echoed in the large shaft. The descent was quick and soon the darkness yielded to light and their journey ended inside a large cavern. Slade looked around with amusement.

"I see that you preserved my old cave under your Tower."

The cave had been transformed into a sort of warehouse/storage facility, which meant it was well stocked with supplies. Robin ran up to a console that was covered in a plastic sheet, which he removed before powering up the computers in the console. Within seconds several screens came to life and those present watched, via cameras hidden around the island as the Tower was destroyed.

"I never thought we'd ever need to use this." Robin exhaled as he stared at the scene of destruction on the screen. "I'm glad you talked me into installing it, Cyborg."

Raven stared at the screen and to her teammates surprise her lower lip began to tremble and tears began to drip from her eyes. Beast Boy gently placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Rave … are you OK?"

"My book of Azar … it was in my room." She replied in a choked up voice. "It was a gift from Azar herself … it's irreplaceable."

"We're all safe and uninjured." Batman announced in his monotone. "It could have been much worse, we didn't lose anyone."

Starfire's eyes widened. "Silkie! We forgot about Silkie" She shrieked before breaking down into tears as Robin consoled her.

"A pet?" Batman asked Cyborg. The tin man nodded.

Slade's body language indicated that he was feeling fine.

"What's with you, Slade? You almost seem to be happy."

"Deathstroke believes we are dead." Batman answered for Slade.

"Very good, Bats; but there is more. I never documented this cave in my databases … I assumed that the Titans buried it … I was wrong. This is very fortunate for us, we not only are alive and Deathstroke doesn't know, but we have a secret lair."

"Only criminals like you have lairs, Slade." Robin interjected.

"Rather than bicker I suggest that we rest." Batman interjected. "Tonight, under the cover of darkness we can go out and investigate what Deathstroke is planning to do next."

"I say we find him and hit him hard. He won't be expecting it." Mento interjected.

"It will be difficult to find him. He knows there will be retaliation for what he has done. He knows that the Justice League will come after him." Slade remarked.

"Which is why we can't tell the League, or anyone that we survived. It's a great advantage to have." Batman remarked in his signature monotone. "If he isn't looking for us, we can look for him. And when we find him, we can deal with him."

Mento tuned towards Slade and the local Wintergreen. "Since he thinks we are all dead, won't he retire to one of your secret lairs?"

Wintergreen said nothing but Slade nodded his agreement. "That's what I would do."

"Which lair would you choose, Slade?" Raven asked.

"I would choose one that would keep me hidden from the Justice League. And for now I would suggest doing nothing. The city will soon be crawling with Justice Leaguers. There are ways to learn what is happening in Jump without leaving our little west coast Bat Cave."

Cyborg picked up a remote control and turned on a giant TV screen, which was tuned to a local TV station. As expected, the regularly scheduled programming had already been pre-empted and the station, as were all the other local channels, was now dedicated to round the clock coverage of the Tower's destruction.

The news crews oscillated between reporting that the city was in a full blown panic and that it was believed that Slade was behind the destruction on the Titans and the Tower. People on the streets were weeping while others were loading whatever possessions they could into their vehicles and fleeing the city, even though the Mayor repeatedly assured them that the Justice League was going to step in and protect them, and that this would not be a repeat of when Slade and Terra conquered the city.

They continued to watch the TV through the afternoon and evening. As is often the case when disasters strike there was precious little news to report. The TV stations kept showing the smoldering remains on Titans island and stock footage of the old observatory. The police of course were not allowing anyone near the two sites, which were being combed by federal and local police agents. They also kept reporting that no one claimed responsibility for the attack, while speculation about Slade's involvement was rampant. One reporter tried to get an interview with Professor Chang, who was serving time in prison, but was turned away.

Within a couple of hours some amateur footage was found that showed the Tower being systematically destroyed, carved up like a Thanksgiving Turkey. Starfire's eyes became watery.

"Our home has been destroyed." She whimpered.

"We'll build a new Tower Star. I know we lost some irreplaceable items." Robin remarked as he glanced at Raven. "But the important thing is that we're safe and sound, and as Slade and Batman said, Deathstroke doesn't know we're alive, and we should keep it that way until we are ready to strike back." He added as he glanced at Slade and local Terra.

"Robin's right. Had I known you guys survived, I would have been ready for you and you wouldn't have beat me." Terra announced in a very matter of fact voice.

"We would have defeated you either way, traitor." Raven snarled at her.

"Witch!" Terra snarled back.

"Enough!" Slade shouted.

The room fell silent and they resumed watching the TV. After a few minutes Raven got up.

"I can't stand watching this anymore; they don't have anything new to report." She droned before stopping next to her beau as she took his hand.

"Come with me … we need to talk."

The changeling rose from his seat and complied with her request, and they both retreated to one if the storerooms, which also each had a few bunk beds and doubled as sleeping quarters. Raven locked the door behind her.

"Gar, we almost died today."

"I know … Raven, you teleported us down here, leaving the others behind."

"There was no time to gather the others, we were in the kitchen. Why run across the room to the escape chute when I could just teleport us directly down here."

He shrugged. "I guess you're right. I just hated leaving the others behind. I don't think anyone even noticed us leave."

Raven began to pace around the room. "Gar … our lives … they can end at any time."

"I know … we're Titans, that's a given. There's a reason the job doesn't come with a pension plan."

She furrowed her brow and continued to pace without saying anything. She stopped and looked at him.

"I'm done waiting. Why wait if we could die tomorrow, it just doesn't make any sense."

"But Rave, we agreed we would wait until we got married."

He sat down on a bunk and she sat down next to him. Neither said anything for several minutes. The silence was uncomfortable and the changeling was anxious to break it, but didn't know what to say. Finally, Raven cleared her throat.

"Then let's get married."

_**-( - )-**_

Cyborg was preparing dinner in the cave's small kitchen. There was of course no fresh food stored in the cave. Everything was either frozen, freeze dried or in cans. The tin man made a giant batch of his three meat spaghetti sauce as well as a batch of tofu in marinara sauce (from a jar). To his surprise he learned that Slade, Mento and Negative Man were also vegetarians. He quietly shook his head as he diced a large cube of tofu.

Robin and Starfire were setting up some folding tables as there wasn't a dining hall in the cave. The two Terras were quietly helping set up the folding chairs when the Chromatically Challenged Couple™ returned to the main cave. They had been absent for over an hour and Robin decided that it would be best to leave them alone, especially since Raven appeared to be out of sorts.

Raven gestured for him to approach them. He excused himself from Starfire and trotted over to them as they were still at the far end of enormous underground dome. Starfire finished setting up the last table and looked towards them. She couldn't hear them, but could see that they exchanged a few words, that is until Robin shouted **"You did what!?"**

Every head in the cave turned towards them. Robin was shaking his head when he gestured Raven and Beast Boy to follow him. They walked back to the improvised dining hall were everyone was now congregated.

"Is there a problem?" Batman asked.

"They've asked me to assign one of the smaller sleeping quarters for their exclusive use."

Both Terras glared daggers at Raven, but held their tongues. Slade's body language clearly indicated that he was amused.

The Dark Knight stared at his former sidekick. "There's something else, isn't there?"

Robin sighed. "You guys tell them."

"You're our leader, you can tell them." Raven interjected.

"I'd rather not."

"Go ahead, Rave; tell them."

"Very well … Beast Boy and I just exchanged Azarathian marriage vows."

Cyborg dropped a large metal bowl full of pasta on floor, which clattered loudly. "Say what?"

Mento and Rita looked livid. Rita was the first to speak up. "Garfield, I don't know what kind of sham marriage this woman has conned you into, but I'll get the best lawyers to annul it."

"The marriage is not a sham. It was performed according to Azarathian law and is perfectly valid."

Parallel Terra approached the sorceress. "You're just like the other Raven, you bewitched him. You cast a spell on him, I know it!"

Raven was about to educate the geomancer that there was no such thing as a love spell when she was interrupted by the sound of a pair of hands clapping slowly and loudly. Everyone turned and saw that it was Slade.

"Well done Raven, well done. I believe that it is safe to assume that you and Beast Boy have consummated your marriage? From what I know about Azarathian law, your marriage isn't valid until you consummate. You were gone for about an hour, right? That gave you more than enough time."

"It's none of your business, Slade." The changeling growled.

Local Terra broke out into a huge grin. Rita stepped forward. "So, the marriage isn't valid after all."

"It's valid and complete." Raven hissed. "And thanks to all of you for being so supportive."

Negative Man spoke up. "Come on Raven, you have to admit, you just dropped a big bomb on us, especially since we have other issues at hand. Did you really expect us to not react this way?"

"I did expect this." She frowned. "Which is why we did it in private … I know none of you think we're right for each other and that none of you like me …"

Raven was interrupted when Starfire approached her and her new husband. The princess wrapped her arms around them, pulling them into a loving embrace. Robin joined in the group hug and was quickly followed by Cyborg. Larry and Cliff also joined in. Mento heaved a huge sigh and led his wife to the group hug. The Terras crossed their arms and frowned. Wintergreen looked indifferent. Batman studied the event while Batgirl was the last to join the group hug.

"Am I allowed to join your love fest?" Slade asked in a mocking tone.

"Do it and you're a dead man." Raven's muffled voice was heard through all the huggers.

The group hug ended. Cyborg picked up his dropped bowl of pasta and stared at it with an unhappy look on his face. "We can't celebrate this with spaghetti!"

Raven approached him and placed a hand on his bionic forearm. "Spaghetti will be just fine."

He looked at the bowl of pasta, which was now cold. "We'll need a cake … I mean you can't have a wedding without a cake, right?"

"Well, we don't do wedding cakes on Azarath, but since this is Earth, I supposed that we'll need a cake."

"One of my patented seven layer cakes coming right up!" He replied as his left hand retracted and was replaced by a pair of mixer blades.

The ambiance in the cave had suddenly changed and there were smiles all around, except on the two Terras who had retreated and were sulking in the far corner of the cave. Wintergreen cleared his throat.

"The Justice League has finally arrived!" He shouted as he pointed at the TV screen, which showed Superman and Wonder Woman talking with the local police chief.

"All the more reason to stay put tonight." Batman added.

Rita pulled her husband aside and whispered to him. "Steve, I know this is what Garfield wants … but … don't you think he's made a mistake?"

"It doesn't matter what we think … what's done is done. If it isn't meant to be, their marriage will fail on its own, but if he believes that we helped make his marriage fail he won't ever forgive us. We aren't crazy about her, but Raven is our daughter-in-law now."

Rita sighed. "This isn't going to be easy."

"I never said that it would be easy." He whispered back to her.

Wintergreen turned up the volume, as Superman and Wonder Woman were holding a press conference. The Man of Steel stood at the podium with a very severe expression on his face. He pointed at the TV camera.

"You think you can hide from us, Slade; but we're going to find you and when we do I will personally send you to the phantom zone for what you have done here in Jump City. There will be no forgiveness for this crime, I promise you that." Cyborg muted the TV.

"We need to let them know that it wasn't Slade." Beast Boy remarked.

"In good time, my dear Beast Boy, in good time." Slade responded.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. We want Deathstroke to think we're dead."

Robin appeared with a crate in his arms, which he placed on the table. He pried the crate open with a bird-a-rang and pulled out a bottle of expensive champagne which Alfred had left behind earlier and he stored in the cave, which he immediately uncorked. Cyborg produced at stack of plastic glassed, and apologized for not having anything more appropriate to used. Robin filled the glasses which were handed out. The Terras and Wintergreen refused to toast the newlyweds, but Slade took a glass of champagne.

Robin raised his glass. "To Raven and Beast Boy."

"To Raven and Beast Boy!" The others cheered.

_**-( - )-**_

No cliffhanger. And Denver Comic Con was a blast this year, even better than last year. The highlight was the Bruce Campbell panel. It was a hoot!


	21. Chapter 21

A lone police officer kept watch on the lonely dock, which was barricaded behind the ubiquitous yellow tape which had the words "Crime Scene – Do not cross" printed on it. It was now eight days since the Tower's destruction and the local citizens left all sorts of bouquets, cards, and pictures of the Titans on the dock, which was the official entry point to the now defunct Tower. The Titans had an automated ferry used for shuttling supplies and visitors between the mainland and the island, reserving the secret tunnel under the bay for their own use.

The crowds were now gone and while the mayor instructed that the impromptu memorials on the dock be left in place for now it was obvious that Jump City had moved on. The Justice League, which arrived with much fanfare, had quietly left the day before, officially announcing that they believed that Slade had left town. So far today only a handful of mourners had come by, and the bored guard was looking forward to the end of his shift when someone approached. He groaned as he rose from his seat inside the control booth, the only structure left from the Titans' infrastructure. He walked out and approached the visitor, who was a tall man dressed in a sharp business suit. The lone visitor stood out as he had platinum blond hair and a goatee, plus he wore a black eye patch. He was looking at the yellow tape, and appeared to be considering crossing it when the guard shouted out at him.

"Can't you read? It says do not cross."

Deathstroke smiled at the man. "Sorry, I'm from out of town."

"You still have to stay behind the yellow tape." The policeman barked at him.

"Relax, I wasn't going to cross."

"Then don't, if you do I'll have to arrest you."

Deathstroke appeared to ignore the policeman and instead stared at the island. "The Titans meant a lot to the city, didn't they?"

"You could say that again … where are you from?"

"New York City … we have our own heroes back home, but ours weren't children."

"They are … were adults."

"But they started out as children, didn't they. Wasn't that kind of strange?"

"They kicked butt, even when they were kids." The officer replied in a sad tone.

"I imagine that the Tower was an impressive sight."

"It was. Now that it's gone everyone is on edge. It's like we're waiting for the other shoe to drop."

"You mean Slade?"

"Yeah, Slade. He conquered the city once, my money is on him doing it again."

"Surely the Justice League won't allow that to happen."

The policeman gave a derisive snort. "I wouldn't count on those clowns. They used to be Earth's guardians; but now they're so busy off world you rarely see them anymore. And they sure didn't help the last time Slade invaded. They just came to posture, they aren't gonna help, they have bigger fish to fry."

"You are certain that it was Slade who killed the Titans, and that he did kill them?"

The officer frowned. "Who else would have done it? All of the Titans other enemies are in jail. And no one has seen the Titans, nor Bats or the Doom Patrol since then, so yeah, it's pretty safe to assume they're dead."

"So what does that mean for the city?"

The officer narrowed his eyes. "Why did you come visit Jump?"

"I'm here on business." Deathstroke replied.

"Haven't you been following the news?"

"I just arrived a few hours ago."

"People are packing up and leaving. They remember what happened last time."

"What about the police? And won't the mayor request the National Guard to protect the city?"

"The governor already said the National Guard won't be coming. We're on our own. We cops won't give up the city without a fight, though."

"Why defend a city without inhabitants?"

"It's a matter of principle. This is our home, we aren't just gonna hand it over to him, even if we can't win."

"How idealistic. If you can't win, shouldn't you cut your losses?"

The officer bristled. "I don't know how you do things in New York, but here in Jump we don't cut and run."

"Even without the Titans covering for you?"

"Yeah, even without the Titans."

"It's your funeral, I guess."

Deathstroke began to walk away. He stopped and turned around. "The Titans … didn't they have a secret tunnel to get on and off the island?"

"No one knows where it is. We aren't even sure it really exists."

A limousine pulled up.

Deathstroke nodded. "Thank you officer. I need to attend to my business. I wish you and the rest of the Police the best of luck."

He boarded the limo, which speed away from the dock. Wintergreen was at the wheel and he drove the car into the downtown area. As they drove he studied the downtown area, taking in every man and woman walking on the sidewalks. From shoeshine boys to law firm senior partners he saw the same look on their faces: fear.

The city was ripe for the taking.

"What did the policeman say, Wilson?"

"What all the others said. He tried to put on brave face, but I could already see the defeat in his eyes. They already lost, and they know it. The Justice League is embroiled in a war between the Centaurians and the Gordanians, a war they want to have stay far as away from Earth as possible, they don't have the time or resources to deal with this little burg. Turning Jump City into my personal fiefdom will be all too easy."

"What about the locals? They're beginning to leave. What good is an empty city? It would just be an oversized ghost town, worthless."

Deathstroke chuckled. "That was Slade's mistake. Tomorrow I will make the city an offer it can't refuse."

"And the police?"

"I will take care of the police. Have you prepared the remaining Xenothium as I asked?"

"Yes, Wilson; it has been done exactly as you requested."

Deathstroke leaned back in his seat.

"Perfect … first we take Jump City."

"And after that we take the world." Wintergreen grinned.

_**-( - )-**_

Beast Boy slowly woke up and yawned. The first thing he noticed was the lavender smell of her perfume and he smiled before rolling over. She was still snoring softly and he gently pressed his body against hers, spooning her very intimately as they were both sleeping in the buff. He kissed her on the nape of her neck. She moaned softly and stirred. Her eyes opened and she rolled over. He smiled at her.

"Good morning." She purred.

He kissed her and pulled her into a hug.

Since the Justice League left town the Titans and their now extended family began to explore the city at night, using the greatest of stealth. So far there was no trace of Deathstroke in any of Slade's old lairs. The team concluded that Deathstroke went and found a new hideout. The Titans and their friends spent entire nights combing the city, searching in vain for Deathstroke's new lair. Robin, Batman and Mento announced together that the searches were pointless and that it would be best if they waited for Deathstroke to make a move. Slade agreed with their strategy. Last night would be the last time they would stay out until the crack of dawn.

It was almost noon now and the still newlywed couple stretched in their bed, which was a single bunk, located in the utility room. Their "roommates" were the huge water heater and ventilation system that served the cave. The changeling wagged his eyebrows at his wife.

"Hey Rae-Rae, you in the mood for some morning sugar?"

Before he could answer there was a loud thumping on the door.

"Are you guys decent?" Cyborg shouted through the door. "You need to come out! Deathstroke is making his move."

_**-( - )-**_

La Gemma was Jump City's poshest neighborhood, with unparalleled views of the bay. Jump City's "Who's Who", its mover and shakers, all lived in La Gemma in their multimillion dollar mansions. It was said that only Titans Tower had a better location.

One thing can be said about the very wealthy: they are a paranoid bunch. Their spacious homes had the most advanced security systems money could buy, and the wealthiest had full time security personnel, who patrolled the streets where they lived and stood out with their cars with dark tinted glass. They always wore sunglasses and had the ubiquitous earpiece attached to portable radio they wore concealed under their suits. They were also armed to the teeth. Most were retired military personal, former Green Berets and Navy Seals.

They residents of La Gemma had their own police precinct, which was absurd as crimes seldom occurred in their posh neighborhood. But these were influential people, and while the city had a tight budget the Mayor always seemed to fund money to fund what was otherwise a pointless and unneeded police station, which was across from the beach, next door to the fire station.

The station was small and was staffed by a Sergeant and two officers. Their time was typically spent responding to calls to deal with "suspicious" individuals who almost always had a legitimate reason to be in La Gemma, and even if they didn't the streets were public property, open to all, at least those not in gated communities.

It was noon and one of the officers had just returned from a lunch run and was handing out the tacos he was sent out to get when the front door creaked open. This was rather unusual, no one ever actually came to the police station, the paranoid citizens of La Gemma would merely call in to make a report.

The three men looked up from their meals. The Sergeant spat out his food as he rose to his feet, drawing his pistol and aiming it at the unannounced visitor. The officers did the same, and for good reason: the visitor was a Slade-bot.

The android stopped in front of them and remained motionless. It had no weapons.

"Sarge, that's one of Slade's robots. What do we do?"

The senior officer was clearly caught off guard and he had to think for a moment before responding.

"We arrest it." He gestured his pistol at the robot. "You're under arrest, put your hands up."

The robot remained motionless.

"Put your hands up, or we'll shoot!"

Again, no response.

"OK, gentlemen, we all know what to do."

They began to shoot at the robot. The bullets bounced off its armored skin, but the robot did not react. The officers continued to fire until they emptied their clips. The Sergeant frowned.

"I'd better call for backup."

He clicked the push to talk button on his radio, but all he got was static in response.

"We're being jammed."

The robot remained immobile and the three officers approached it. A minute, which felt like an eternity, passed by.

"So what do we do Sarge?"

"I don't know. The phone lines are also dead. We're on our own."

The Slade-bot reached for its face. The policemen leaped away from it. It removed its face plate, revealing a blank video screen.

"What is it doing?"

The screen came to life. Starting at five it began a countdown. By the time it reached three it was clear what was happening.

"It's a bomb! Everyone get out of here now!" The Sergeant bellowed.

Before they could reach the door the countdown reached zero. At that precise moment every single police facility in the city, which all had a similar Slade-bot drop in, was destroyed by a small Xenothium powered bomb. There were no survivors. At the same time any officers on patrol were attacked by Slade-bots. Their vehicles were destroyed as were any occupants at the time. Off duty officers were attacked and killed in their homes.

In a single moment Deathstroke eradicated the city's entire police force and now there was no one left to stop him.

_**-( - )-**_

Beast Boy and his wife were the last to join the extended team in the improvised subterranean common room. The giant TV was on and it displayed the rubble that used to be the Police Departments head quarter's down town. A frantic news reporter was reporting that similar attacks were made across the city.

"The police are no more." Slade announced in his baritone. "The city is his for the taking."

Robin slammed his fist into his palm. "Not if we can help it."

As they watched the image on the TV became distorted and was replaced by static. A few seconds later a new feed appeared. It was Deathstroke, who was of course dressed as Slade.

"Hello, Jump City. As you are now aware I have eradicated first the Titans and now the Police. You are probably wondering what my demands are. If you are wondering if I want your money or maybe your first born daughters, I do not."

He paused.

"As of this moment your city government is dissolved, and I am declaring Jump City a sovereign state, with myself as its leader in perpetuity. Now I know what you're thinking, that you should get into your cars and flee the city. There is no need to do that, for I have no intention of disrupting your personal lives. I want you to continue living as you always have. You will continue reporting to your jobs and your children will continue to go to school. I have deployed an army of my robots to defend our new borders from any and all invaders and aggressors. They will control border crossings in both directions."

He paused a second time. "For now, stay home and do not venture out. My robots will visit you to gather your personal information for our first census. I know that you are scared right now, but I assure you that you have nothing to fear. I will be a benevolent ruler and will bring peace and prosperity to Jump City. My first action will be to eradicate all crime. This is a warning to all criminals out there. Unlike my predecessors I will deal swiftly with all criminals, especially with so called super villains. There will be only one punishment for felonies: death. I will also empty our prisons and deport the inmates, and for them I have but a single warning: do not return if you value your life."

"That is all for today. I will officially take over city hall within the hour. I expect the mayor and his elected staff to be gone when I arrive. As for any city employees … stay put, you work for me now."

The TV screen reverted to the news broadcast. Robin turned off the TV.

"Now we know where to find him." He announced.

_**-( - )-**_

"I made you guys some lunch."

Cyborg placed some food in front of the Chromatically Challenged Couple™. Raven poked her food with her fork before looking up at their bionic friend.

"Thanks, but I don't have any appetite."

Cyborg picked up her plate. "I'll put it in the fridge."

"I'm sorry, Cyborg … it's just with this news …"

He smiled at his tiny gray friend. "No worries, Raven. The truth is, I'm also weirded out by this situation. I mean, how could this get any stranger? Slade's even more evil transdimensional twin takes over our town, we're hidden in this dank cave and you guys are spending your honeymoon in the utility room … speaking of which … how are you two lovebirds doing?"

"We're doing fine, bro. I mean, yeah … this isn't how I imagined we would spend our honeymoon."

Cyborg smiled. "Once we get this mess straightened out I'm sending you guys on a proper honeymoon … my treat, nothing but the best for you guys."

Starfire overheard the conversation and joined in. "And I will organize the proper wedding … it will be glorious!"

"Uh, Starfire; that won't be necessary." Raven chimed in.

"I have the perfect wedding dress in mind for you, it is simply beautiful!"

"Starfire, we are already married."

"And the catering, I will hire the best chef in Jump City."

"Oh Star, you don't have to hire me! You know I'll do it." Cyborg smiled.

"No, I am serious. I will hire the best chef in the city."

"And you're saying that isn't me?" Cyborg fumed.

"Cyborg, you're a great cook, but we don't need any catering because there won't be a wedding because we are already married."

Cyborg and Starfire looked at Raven, then resumed arguing about how they would organize the wedding. Raven stood up and walked away. Her husband followed her.

"This is ridiculous. We have a very real problem to deal with and all they can think about is that?"

Her spouse put a hand on her shoulder. "I think it's their way of coping with the situation."

Raven saw the two Terra's approach them. "Speaking of coping, look who's coming our way."

"They haven't talked to us since we got married."

"I knew it was too good to last. At least your parents seem to be level headed about this."

"I think they've accepted you as a new member of the family."

"Maybe, but I still can't bring myself to call them mom and dad."

He snickered. "That's OK. I don't like to call them that either."

The two Terras reached the Logans and crossed their arms.

"When this is over, we're taking this bogus marriage of yours to court and getting annulled." Local Terra gruffly announced.

"I see you are just as psychotic and illogical as always, Terra. Has it not occurred to you that if you could get our marriage annulled, which you can't, all we would have to do is see a judge and have another marriage performed?"

Visiting Terra chimed in. "Maybe, but BB would be fair game again."

"Since when has obeying the law ever mattered to you?" Raven huffed.

"Hey, I'm not a psycho like your Terra, back home I was one of the good guys!"

"Who are you calling a psycho?" Local Terra seethed.

"Uh … you. In case you forgot, you tried to kill BB once. And when you weren't trying to kill him, you dumped him … twice."

"I never dumped him! He dumped me!"

The changeling leaped towards the Geomancers. "Hey! What are you talking about? I never dumped you! You dumped me when you ran off with Slade!"

"And you dumped him when you told him that things change." Raven added.

"Shut up, witch! He's mine and you know it."

"Actually, if anyone can claim him, it's me." Visiting Terra interrupted.

"You're out of your frakking mind!" Local Terra shouted at her.

The two Terras' argument intensified and Logans walked away.

Raven shook her head. "That is the most pathetic thing I've ever seen. How are we going to defeat Deathstroke with this motley crew?"

As they continued to walk away they were interrupted once again.

"Hey, guys … can we talk?"

Raven winced. It was her. Summoning all her willpower Raven suppressed all the negative emotions she was feeling and turned around to face their newest antagonist.

"What can we do for you Miss Jackson?"

Jillian looked a bit sheepish. "For me, nothing … I just want to apologize."

Raven looked momentarily taken aback. "Apologize? For what?"

Jill smiled sheepishly. "Well … Steve and Rita brought me to keep me safe, but … I have to admit that I was hoping to maybe rekindle my old relationship with Gar. I mean, it was puppy love back then, but Gar is such a sweet guy that I never was able to forget about him. I was really excited to see him again, but when I found out you guys were engaged … what can I say? I'm sorry. I have to be the last person in the world you want to see, Raven."

Raven gave her a small smile and placed and hand on her shoulder. "Believe it or not, you are the least of my worries, Jillian."

The blond broke out into a huge smile. "Really!? That's great!" She then wrapped her arms around the sorceress, who turned to her husband and mouthed the words "She's hugging me again". Beast Boy smiled at this wife and mouthed the words "Hug her back". Raven rolled her eyes and hugged the blond.

Jill released Raven. "I'll stay out of your way, guys. I know you don't need me around."

"It's quite alright, Jillian. If you're Garfield's friend, then you're my friend too."

Jill hugged them both before excusing herself. Once she was out of earshot Raven muttered to her husband. "I thought Starfire was the sweetest girl in the world, but I think Jill has her beat hands down."

"Jill always was nice."

"So?" Raven asked.

"So what?"

"So why did you let that nice girl get away?"

He smiled at his wife. "Believe it or not, she's not my type."

"I see … so foul tempered demonesses are your type?"

"You aren't foul tempered."

"Gar, don't be silly."

"I'm serious … sure, you aren't miss sunshine like she is, but I wouldn't want you to be like that. I love you the way you are."

"Aren't you the smooth talker?"

"I'm serious."

Raven wrapped her arms around him and pulled him close to him.

"I know."

They were in the far corner of the cave, alone. They began to kiss, and it quickly escalated into a heavy groping session. Beast Boy was about to suggest they adjourn to the utility room when they heard someone clear her throat. They turned and saw a sheepish looking Batgirl.

"Uh … sorry guys … Robin sent me to find you. We're having a meeting to plan how we're going to catch Deathstroke."

The Logans both blushed. Raven released her husband.

"It's about time." She announced in her monotone.


End file.
